1990
Arm pain in the patient with breast cancer
Publication
Publication
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management , Volume 5 - Issue 2 p. 109- 117
The causes of ipsilateral arm pain were analyzed in a consecutive series of 38 patients with breast cancer. A lesion of the brachial plexus was diagnosed in 17 patients, of whom 8 had tumor involvement, 5 had radiation fibrosis, 1 had lymphedema entrapment, and 3 had a probable transient neuritis of the plexus. In four patients, a cervical radiculopathy was found; two of these patients had a Horner's syndrome. A carpal tunnel syndrome was seen in four patients and could possibly be attributed to lymphedema in two patients. In five patients, a pericapsulitis of the shoulder joint was seen. Seven of eight patients with a postsurgical pain had a neuropathic pain related to damage of the intercostobrachial nerve induced by a postaxillary dissection. These diagnoses probably indicate the most common causes of ipsilateral arm pain in breast cancer. A postaxillary dissection pain seems the most frequent type of postsurgical pain in breast cancer.
Additional Metadata | |
---|---|
doi.org/10.1016/S0885-3924(05)80024-7, hdl.handle.net/1765/76251 | |
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management | |
Organisation | Department of Neurology |
Vecht, C. (1990). Arm pain in the patient with breast cancer. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 5(2), 109–117. doi:10.1016/S0885-3924(05)80024-7 |