HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Rapid Responses are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Sander, A. P Articles by Miller, A. C Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sander, A. P Articles by Miller, A. C Related Collections Lymphedema Breast Cancer and Lymphedema Tests and Measurements Social Bookmarking                      What's this?

Upper-Extremity Volume Measurements in Women With Lymphedema: A Comparison of Measurements Obtained Via Water Displacement With Geometrically Determined Volume

AP Sander, PT, MS, CLT- LANA, is Assistant Professor of Clinical Physical Therapy, Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, The Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 645 N Michigan Ave, Suite 1100, Chicago, IL 60611 (t-sander{at}northwestern.edu). Address all correspondence to Ms Sander
NM Hajer, PT, MPT, is Registry Physical Therapist, MacNeal Hospital, Berwyn, Ill, and Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Ill
K Hemenway, PT, MPT, is Staff Physical Therapist, Westlake Hospital, Melrose Park, Ill
AC Miller, PT, MPT, CLT-LANA, is Staff Therapist, The Moorings, Arlington Heights, Ill

Background and Purpose. Upper-extremity (UE) swelling following breast cancer treatment is a frequent manifestation of lymphedema. In order to document outcomes from lymphedema treatments, reliable, valid, and practical measurements of UE swelling are necessary. The purpose of this study was to compare geometric methods of determining UE volumes with water displacement methods. Subjects. The edematous hand, forearm, and upper arm of 50 women with UE swelling secondary to lymphedema were measured. Methods. Upper-extremity volumes were determined by water displacement using arm and hand volumeters. Displaced water was weighed to determine volume. Circumferential girth measurements were taken. Width and depth measurements of the hand were taken with a tension-controlled caliper. Geometric volume formulas for a cylinder, frustum, rectangular solid, and trapezoidal solid were used to calculate volumes of the arm and hand at different measurement intervals. Results. Intraclass correlation coefficients [2,1] for interrater and intrarater reliability of all water and geometric measurements of the arm and hand were .91 to .99 and .92 to .99, respectively. Water displacement correlated with geometric measurements in the arm (r=.97–.98) and in the hand (r=.81–.91). The limits of agreement (LOA) indicated that water and geometric measurements of arm volume differed by 479 to 655 mL. Scatterplots of the LOA data indicated in that geometric volumes were either larger or smaller than water volumes. The smallest standard error of measurement for the arm measurements was for the 6-cm frustum method at 115 mL; for the hand measurements, the smallest standard error of measurement was for the frustum method at 16 mL. Discussion and Conclusion. Volume of an edematous UE calculated by geometric formulas correlated strongly with volume determined by water displacement. Although strongly correlated, the measurements obtained by the 2 methods did not agree.

Key Words: Arm and hand volume • Edema • Lymphedema • Measurement

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H. N Mayrovitz, J. Macdonald, S. Davey, K. Olson, and E. Washington Measurement Decisions for Clinical Assessment of Limb Volume Changes in Patients With Bilateral and Unilateral Limb Edema Physical Therapy, October 1, 2007; 87(10): 1362 - 1368. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Lette A Simple and Innovative Device to Measure Arm Volume at Home for Patients With Lymphedema After Breast Cancer J. Clin. Oncol., December 1, 2006; 24(34): 5434 - 5440. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Taylor, U. W Jayasinghe, L. Koelmeyer, O. Ung, and J. Boyages Reliability and Validity of Arm Volume Measurements for Assessment of Lymphedema Physical Therapy, February 1, 2006; 86(2): 205 - 214. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. F Williams, P. J Franks, and C. J Moffatt Lymphoedema: estimating the size of the problem Palliative Medicine, June 1, 2005; 19(4): 300 - 313. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. R Karges, B. E Mark, S J. Stikeleather, and T. W Worrell Concurrent Validity of Upper-Extremity Volume Estimates: Comparison of Calculated Volume Derived From Girth Measurements and Water Displacement Volume Physical Therapy, February 1, 2003; 83(2): 134 - 145. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]