Article révisé par les pairs
Résumé : Three hundred and fifteen patients who underwent a radical mastectomy between 1969 and 1976 were studied. Nineteen percent developed lymphedema of the upper limb. Ten percent were resistant to all forms of therapy while the pathology gradually subsided in 9%. The causes of lymphedema as well as the preventive and curative methods were statistically studied and compared with those in the literature. Several preventive measures are proposed, in particular, the modified radical mastectomy.