A Systematic Literature Review of the Psychosocial Outcomes of Post-Mastectomy Pain Syndrome in Women with Breast Cancer.

Globally, breast cancer (BC) remains a primary cause of cancer-related mortality among females, and up to 80 percent of patients undergo mastectomy. Following this surgical procedure, some patients develop post-mastectomy pain syndrome (PMPS), which could have deleterious physical and psychosocial outcomes (Cabo et al., 2019; El-Masri et al., 2021). PMPS is characterized by chronic pain and tenderness and hair loss and changes in breast color (Cabo et al., 2019). With regards to psychosocial well-being, the syndrome has been associated with mental health deterioration, specifically depression and anxiety (Brito et al., 2021). Psychological problems such as depression can adversely affect women's health-related quality of life, specifically their social and physical functionality ( ישיה ולקושמרו- ב , 2022). This calls for investigating preventive and therapeutic measures that can revert the adverse psychosocial well-being associated with PMPS (Cabo et al., 2019; El-Masri et al., 2021). This dissertation's primary objective is to examine the link between PMPS and psychosocial well-being outcomes using a systematic literature review approach. The study will seek to answer the following research questions. What are the causes and clinical manifestations of PMPS? What are the available treatment modalities for PMPS? Specifically, how does PMPS relate to deteriorated mental health outcomes and compromised quality of life? The methodological section of this paper includes data extraction and synthesis, identification and selection criteria, and the search strategy. Lastly, this dissertation will give an overview and rationale for the chosen research design and methodology based on assessing through using the aforementioned research questions in the literature.

References

Britto, C. M., Spinetto, M., Amano, M. T., & Campi, N. M. (2021). Anxiety and depression in patients with post-mastectomy pain syndrome evaluation of a pain clinic database. Einstein (São Paulo), 19, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.31744/einstein_journal/2021ao6173

Cabo, C., Ferraz, J., & Ribeiro, L. T. (2019). Pain presente, cancro ausente. E uma conceção cultural que deve ser tratada? Memorias sobre um caso de Odontostomatologia. In Ética autónoma de conceitos e actividades, Actas IV Congresso de Mística/Rectitude (pp. 737-742).