ArticleFrontiers in medical technology2024
Case Report: The effect of automated manual lymphatic drainage therapy on lymphatic contractility in 4 distinct cases.
Article in Frontiers in medical technology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Macrophage-derived extracellular vesicles promote T cell-dependent inflammatory pain resolution.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Additional evidence from a case report supports a novel hypothesis on the association between complex regional pain syndrome and lymphedema.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Automated manual lymphatic drainage therapy (AMLDT) is available for home use in the form of a pneumatic mat of 16 pressurized air channels that inflate and deflate to mimic the stretch and release action of manual lymphatic drainage therapy. Four cases (a patient with complex regional pain syndrome and lymphedema, a healthy patient, a breast cancer survivor with chronic pain, and a patient with a history of abdominal surgery) underwent near-infrared fluorescence lymphatic imaging (NIRFLI) with AMLDT to evaluate the effect of AMLDT on lymphatic pumping and pain. Methods: Each patient received 32-36 injections of 25 μg indocyanine green (ICG) on the anterior and posterior sides of their body and underwent 1 h of NIRFLI to assess the drainage of ICG laden lymph toward regional nodal basins at baseline. Each patient lay supine on the mat for 1 h of AMLDT with NIRFLI to assess lymphatic flow during treatment. A final NIFRFLI assessment was done 30-60 min posttreatment with the patient in the supine and prone position. Patients reported baseline and posttreatment pain using the Visual Analogue Scale. An imager analyzed NIRFLI images using ImageJ (US National Institutes of Health). Using time stamps of the first and last images to determine time lapsed and the number of pulses observed in a timeframe, pulsing frequency (pulses/min) was obtained to assess lymphatic function. Results: All 4 cases completed the NIRFLI and AMLDT without complications; all 3 patients with baseline pain reported reduced pain posttreatment. AMLDT appeared to alter lymphatic contractility, with both increased and decreased pulsing frequencies observed, including in nonaffected limbs. Pulsing frequencies were very heterogeneous among patients and varied within anatomic regions of the same patient. Discussion: This proof-of-concept study suggests that AMLDT may impact lymphatic contractility. Further research on its effect on lymphatic function is warranted.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.