DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF A PHYSIOTHERAPEUTIC PROTOCOL IN PATIENTS WITH MASTALGIA

Abstract

Introduction: Mastalgia is defined as pain in one or both breasts that appears isolated or spreading to the chest wall and upper limbs, thus affecting health dimensions related to welfare as well as to social, physical, sexual and occupational activities. Objective: To verify the influence of the physiotherapeutic protocol consisting of electrotherapy and physical exercise in women with mastalgia. Method: This is an uncontrolled clinical trial with an intentional sample of ten women with mastalgia. The tools applied were the Brazilian version of the Short Form-36 Quality of Life Questionnaire (SF-36) and the Analogical Visual Scale (AVS), analyzed by means of a Student’s t-test, as well as the Medical Research Council (MRC) scale, analyzed by means of a Wilcoxon test. The research protocol comprised the use of TENS, associated with physical exercise. Results: There was a significant reduction in the AVS of pain in both the right (p=0.0117*) and left breast (p=0.0464*), significant improvement in the individual analysis of the domains of quality of life related to pain (p=0.0380*) and mental health (p=0.0015*) by the SF-36 and relative improvement of muscle strength by the MRC, although not statistically significant. Conclusion: The innovative protocol for the treatment of mastalgia was efficient in the face of the clinical picture and had positive results in quality of life and muscle strength.