Purpose

Breast cancer surgery may be associated with pain and physical symptoms in the upper limbs. Functional impairment and pain-related avoidance of movement may further increase disability level. This study aimed to investigate the potential effects of early postoperative virtual reality (VR) therapy on pain, range of motion (ROM), muscle strength, functionality, and fear of movement.

Methods

Forty women with breast cancer who had undergone unilateral mastectomy with axillary lymph node dissection and who were receiving adjuvant therapy were included in the study and randomly assigned to two groups: the Kinect-based rehabilitation group (KBRG) and the standardized physical therapy group (SPTG). The KBRG (n = 20) received VR therapy using Xbox Kinect-based games and the SPTG (n = 20) received standard physiotherapy. Study subjects were assessed at baseline and after the 6-week treatment. Outcome measures were pain (visual analogue scale), grip strength (dynamometer), functionality (disabilities of the arm shoulder and hand questionnaire), muscle strength (handheld dynamometer), ROM (digital goniometer), and fear of movement (Tampa kinesiophobia scale (TKS)).

Results

Both groups detected significant changes in pain, ROM, muscle strength, grip strength, functionality, and TKS scores after the treatment (p < 0.01). Fear of movement was significantly improved in the KBRG and the SPTG displayed more improvement in functionality (p < 0.05). There were no differences in ROM, muscle strength, grip strength, and pain between the groups after the treatment (p > 0.05).

Conclusion

Kinect-based VR therapy resulted in significant outcomes that were comparable to those obtained under standard physiotherapy in the early postoperative phase in patients who had undergone breast cancer surgery.

Trial registration

This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03618433).

中文翻译：

---

在进行乳腺癌手术的患者中，基于Xbox 360 Kinect的虚拟现实训练是否像标准物理疗法一样有效？

目的

乳腺癌手术可能与上肢疼痛和身体症状有关。功能障碍和与疼痛相关的避免运动可能会进一步增加残疾水平。这项研究旨在调查术后早期虚拟现实（VR）治疗对疼痛，运动范围（ROM），肌肉力量，功能和对运动的恐惧的潜在影响。

方法

40名患有腋窝淋巴结清扫术并接受辅助治疗的乳腺癌妇女被纳入研究，并随机分为两组：基于Kinect的康复组（KBRG）和标准化物理治疗组（SPTG） ）。KBRG（n  = 20）使用基于Xbox Kinect的游戏进行VR治疗，而SPTG（n  = 20）接受标准物理治疗。在基线和治疗6周后评估研究对象。结果指标包括疼痛（视觉模拟量表），握力（测力计），功能性（手臂肩膀和手部问卷的残障率），肌肉力量（手持测力计），ROM（数字测角计）和运动恐惧感（坦帕运动恐惧症量表（ TKS））。

结果

检测这两组小号的处理（在后疼痛，ROM，肌肉力量，握力，功能和TKS分数ignificant变化p  <0.01）。在KBRG中，对运动的恐惧得到了显着改善，而SPTG在功能上显示出更多的改善（p  <0.05）。治疗后两组之间的ROM，肌肉力量，握力和疼痛无差异（p  > 0.05）。

结论

基于Kinect的VR疗法可带来显着的效果，与乳腺癌术后患者在术后早期的标准物理疗法下获得的效果相当。

试用注册

该研究已在ClinicalTrials.gov（ClinicalTrials.gov标识符：NCT03618433）上注册。