Efficacy of Manual Lymph Drainage in Systemic Sclerosis: a Case Report Manual Lymph Drainage in Individuals With Systemic Sclerosis

Abstract

The aim of this case report was to evaluate the efficacy of manual lymph drainage (MLD) in a patient with Systemic Sclerosis in relation to pain, dyspnea, insomnia, edema, skin involvement, hand functions and quality of life. A 57-year-old patient with SSc who applied manual lymph drainage is presented in this case report A Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was used to assess pain, dyspnea, edema and insomnia, volumetric measurements were taken of hand volume, the Hand Mobility in Scleroderma (HAMIS) test was applied for hand function, the Modified Rodnan Score (MRS) for skin involvement and the Short Form-36 (SF36) for Quality of Life. It has been observed that the application of MLD to systemic sclerosis patient has positive effects on skin involvement, edema, pain, dyspnea, insomnia, and quality of life. It is thought that it will be beneficial to add MLD application to the physiotherapy treatment program for patients with systemic sclerosis.