LYMPHEDEMA
Effectively identify, treat and manage lymphedema with segmental body water analysis
Lymphedema is a poorly understood condition characterized by chronic swelling in one or more areas of the body due to impaired lymphatic flow. Secondary lymphedema commonly occurs after cancer treatment or surgery, making it crucial to monitor patients undergoing cancer therapies as lymphedema is commonly underdiagnosed until the edema progresses. Although there is no cure, early detection is key to managing symptoms and progression of lymphedema as well as improving patient outcomes and quality of life.
Lymphedema specialists are responsible for identifying, treating, and monitoring the disease while educating each patient on lifelong self-care. Because lymphedema is not well understood, there are limited tools available to clinicians for providing the best care for their patients. The InBody is a medical-grade bioimpedance device that measures body water and composition, providing objective measures of fluid and muscle-fat balance. The InBody test is non-invasive and convenient, and the comprehensive results sheet is the perfect educational tool to engage patients and help them understand more about their condition while using the information to document progress and guide treatments.
In less than 60 seconds, the InBody Test provides accurate, objective, and easily understandable measurements to evaluate the patient’s current health status and track the efficacy of treatments and interventions. Lymphedema specialists can use the InBody to:
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Monitor body water and composition for early detection and treatment of lymphedema
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Identify fluid imbalances through tracking segmental body water values and edema index variables
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Evaluate additional health risks related to muscle-fat balance
Empowered by objective data, clinicians will be able to more effectively identify, treat and manage lymphedema, improving the success of patients and their programs.
Detect fluid imbalances resulting from the development or progression of lymphedema
Indirect methods of quantifying body water make it difficult to diagnose and track lymphedema progression. Circumference and perometry measures are commonly used; however, these methods can be time-consuming, prone to error and may not accurately reflect changes in body water.
InBody objectively measures each region of the body separately and provides fluid balance measures for each of the arms, legs and the trunk. This allows clinicians to easily identify both unilateral and bilateral lymphedema as well as monitor changes over time.
Circumference measures and perometry are two methods often used to determine limb volume in order to identify edematous limbs or track lymphedema progression. However, circumference measures suffer from high inter-measurer variability, and certain patients may be excluded from assessment with a perometer. In addition, these indirect volume measurements are often unreliable and do not always reflect changes in body water. For example, changes in lean or fat mass can confound changes that might appear to be (or even mask) swelling. Therefore, it is important for lymphedema specialists to have objective measures of body water for accurate diagnosis and tracking of lymphedema.
InBody effectively distinguishes water in the intracellular (ICW; within the tissues) and extracellular (ECW; within the blood and interstitial fluids) water compartments that comprise total body water. The Edema Index, based on the ratio between ECW and TBW (ECW/TBW), can be used to detect fluid imbalances resulting from the development or progression of lymphedema. This index is provided separately for each arm, leg, and trunk, therefore providing a direct assessment/tracking tool for both edema by avoiding the use of comparisons to unaffected body segments.
The comprehensive body water report provided by the InBody allows objective tracking of fluid balance to help diagnose both unilateral and bilateral lymphedema and effectively monitor patients over time.
