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Functional compressive bandaging (FCB) is a therapeutic resource used to control lymphedema resulting from the treatment of breast cancer. However, the reliability of the technique is unknown. We evaluated intra- and inter-rater reliability of the spiral technique in the four-layer FCB of the arm and forearm in breast cancer survivors with lymphedema. Forty-five breast cancer survivors with a mean age of 64.88±10.01 years participated in the study. Evaluations were performed by two examiners at different times analyzing the pressure exerted (mmHg) by the spiral FCB in the arm and forearm of the upper limb affected by lymphedema. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC2,1) was used to determine intraand inter-examiner reliability, with a 95% confidence interval, minimum detectable change, and standard error of the measurement. Intrarater reliability was considered low to high in the arm and forearm region. Inter-rater reliability in the arm region was considered low and in the forearm region low to moderate. Our results indicate that spiral FCB has low to moderate intra-examiner and inter-examiner reliability., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright by International Society of Lymphology.)

Objective: This study sought to evaluate the effect of elastic compression, functional compressive bandaging, and kinesiotherapy on blood flow of the upper limb with lymphedema secondary to the treatment of breast cancer., Methods: This was a randomized blind crossover clinical trial with a washout period of 7 days between treatments. We evaluated 20 women with a mean age of 66.85 years (standard deviation = 11.76), undergoing three types of therapeutic procedures randomly applied by lot: kinesiotherapy, functional compressive bandaging + kinesiotherapy (FCB), and elastic compression + kinesiotherapy (EC). Blood flow, including mean and maximum velocity, was assessed by Doppler ultrasound before and after the therapeutic procedure (immediately after, 15 minutes, and 30 minutes). We used two-way analysis of variance for repeated measures followed by Bonferroni's test, considering a significance level of 5%., Results: The EC and FCB groups showed a significant increase in the mean velocity of blood flow in the axillary and brachial arteries and veins compared to the group that received only kinesiotherapy (p < 0.05), but no difference between them (p > 0.05). Moreover, the EC and FCB groups showed greater increase in maximum velocity of blood flow in the brachial artery (p < 0.05) compared to the group that received only kinesiotherapy, but no difference between them (p > 0.05)., Conclusion: Elastic compression and functional compressive bandaging combined with kinesiotherapy increased blood flow of upper limb lymphedema.