Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics, 2025, Vol.13, No.6, 275-286 http://medscipublisher.com/index.php/cge 281 6 Case Analyses 6.1 Patient background and lymphedema status Patients who develop lymphedema in the ipsilateral arm after breast cancer surgery often have some similar backgrounds and causes of the disease. Most of these patients are women who have undergone axillary lymph node dissection or radiotherapy. Both of these treatment methods significantly increase the risk of lymphedema. Other factors that can easily trigger this disease include a high BMI (Body Mass Index), high blood pressure, poor wound healing and poor economic conditions. For instance, a retrospective study involving 208 women revealed that a high BMI, having undergone axillary lymph node dissection, and having received radiotherapy are all personal risk factors for lymphedema. Patients who live in cities and often obtain nursing advice through digital means have a relatively lower risk of illness (Cano-Lallave et al., 2025). Another large-scale survey involving 500 patients with early-stage breast cancer also found that high blood pressure, poor surgical wound healing, and less arm movement after surgery are all important causes of lymphedema. Common manifestations of lymphedema include: swelling of the affected arm, thickening of its circumference, increased weight, and sometimes pain or difficulty in movement. The severity of this disease varies. If it doesn't get better for a long time, the patient will have difficulty moving around and their quality of life will also decline. One patient had arm edema that persisted for more than 15 years after the operation. This indicates that if lymphedema is not treated in time or treated improperly, it may persist for a long time and become increasingly serious (Sui et al., 2023). Therefore, early detection of the disease and classification of risk levels are particularly important for effectively controlling the disease and preventing long-term complications (Cano-Lallave et al., 2025; Yao et al., 2025). 6.2 Implementation process of nursing intervention The prevention and management of lymphedema require the combination of multiple nursing methods and should be adjusted according to the individual conditions of the patients. Intervention usually begins with comprehensive health guidance, such as distributing health handbooks to patients, playing demonstration videos, and organizing interactive communication to ensure that patients are clear about the risk factors, prevention methods, and self-care skills of lymphedema (Yang et al., 2023). Nowadays, more and more digital tools such as wechat and online platforms are being used to push health knowledge every day, share exercise videos weekly, and arrange evaluations monthly. This can enhance patients' participation and cooperation (Wu et al., 2025). In addition to health guidance, a systematic rehabilitation plan should also be formulated, which usually includes gradually increasing strength training, manual lymphatic drainage, pressure therapy and regular arm circumference measurement. For instance, there was a group of patients who participated in a three-month self-care improvement program, during which medical staff followed up on their conditions by phone. Compared with the control group that did not participate in this program, there was no new lymphedema in this group of patients (Marakai et al., 2025). Another approach is to form a multidisciplinary team to provide exclusive care for patients. This team consists of physical therapists, nurses and lymphedema specialists, which can ensure that patients receive comprehensive assistance throughout the rehabilitation stage (Figure 2) (Sui et al., 2023). Based on the nursing methods summarized from actual research, digital tools are used to combine exclusive guidance, psychological counseling and regular follow-up to help patients manage themselves well and maintain emotional stability (Yang et al., 2023). 6.3 Results and rehabilitation pathway tracking results Nursing intervention for upper limb lymphedema usually has a good effect, which can significantly reduce the incidence of lymphedema, improve arm function and enhance the quality of life of patients. Patients who receive high-frequency digital nursing guidance at least three times a week have a significantly lower risk of lymphedema compared to those who receive guidance less frequently or no at all (Yao et al., 2025). The systematic rehabilitation plan can significantly improve patients' self-care ability, upper limb function and arm volume. Studies have shown that no new cases of lymphedema occurred in some intervention groups (Marakai et al., 2025; Wu et al., 2025).
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