Patients who have breast cancer surgery are at risk of axillary web syndrome (AWS), an under-recognized postsurgical complication which can result in shoulder morbidity and functional impairment. Emerging studies have indicated that AWS may persist beyond the first few months after surgery, although few studies have assessed the prevalence and association of AWS beyond a year after diagnosis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and associations for AWS in post-operative breast cancer patients up to 3 years after surgery. This cross sectional observational study was conducted at a community-based cancer rehabilitation center. Patients were evaluated for the presence of AWS via physical examination. Disease-related data was obtained from clinical review and medical records. Descriptive statistics were utilized to illustrate patient demographics and clinical characteristics. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine associations of AWS. There were 111 Asian women who were recruited, who had undergone breast surgery and were referred to a national outpatient rehabilitation center. The prevalence of AWS in this population was 28.9%. In the multivariate regression model, significant factors were age < 50 years (OR = 3.51; 95% CI = 1.12–11.0; p = 0.031) and ALND (OR = 6.54; 95% CI = 1.36–31.3; p = 0.019). There was reduced shoulder flexion ROM (p < 0.001) in patients with AWS compared to patients without AWS. A high prevalence of AWS was reported in breast cancer survivors even at 3 years after breast surgery. Our findings highlight the need to identify breast cancer survivors with AWS even in the survivorship phase, and develop strategies to raise awareness and minimize functional impairment in these patients.

中文翻译：

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接受基于社区的癌症康复计划的乳腺癌手术后亚洲女性腋窝网络综合征的患病率和关联

接受乳腺癌手术的患者有患腋网综合征 (AWS) 的风险，这是一种未被充分认识的术后并发症，可导致肩部发病率和功能障碍。新兴研究表明 AWS 可能会在手术后的最初几个月后持续存在，尽管很少有研究评估 AWS 在诊断后一年后的患病率和关联。因此，本研究的目的是调查手术后长达 3 年的术后乳腺癌患者中 AWS 的患病率和关联。这项横断面观察研究是在社区癌症康复中心进行的。通过体格检查评估患者是否存在 AWS。疾病相关数据来自临床审查和医疗记录。描述性统计用于说明患者人口统计学和临床​​特征。逻辑回归分析用于确定 AWS 的关联。招募了 111 名亚洲女性，她们接受了乳房手术，并被转诊到国家门诊康复中心。该人群中 AWS 的患病率为 28.9%。在多元回归模型中，重要因素是年龄 < 50 岁（OR = 3.51；95% CI = 1.12–11.0；p = 0.031）和 ALND（OR = 6.54；95% CI = 1.36–31.3；p = 0.019）。与没有 AWS 的患者相比，有 AWS 的患者的肩关节屈曲 ROM (p < 0.001) 减少。据报道，即使在乳房手术后 3 年，乳腺癌幸存者中 AWS 的患病率也很高。