Effect of the brake type pillow on preventing the postoperative complication in breast cancer patients

Objective To explore the effect of the brake type pillow on preventing the postoperative complication in breast cancer patients .Methods One hundred and sixty patients with modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer were divided into the control group and the observation group according to the random number table, each with 80 cases.The observation group received the brake type pillow , and the control group received the routine nursing .The incidence of postoperative subcutaneous drainage , the subcutaneous effusion , the skin flap necrosis and the paretic upper-limb edema were compared between two groups .Results The amount of postoperative subcutaneous drainage in the observation group was （276.59 ±163.10） ml, and was （431.72 ± 265.18） ml in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant （t=3.573,P〈0.01）.The incidence rate of subcutaneous effusion was 0.25%in the observation group , and was lower than 1.63%in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant （χ2 =8.901,P〈0.01）.The incidence rate of skin flap necrosis was 0.25% in the observation group, and was lower than 1.38% in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant （χ2 =6.782,P〈0.01）.No difference was found in the incidence of the paretic upper-limb edema between two groups （χ2 =0.592,P〉0.05）.Conclusions Application of the brake type pillow can reduce the subcutaneous drainage after the operation in breast cancer patients , and prevent the incidence of the subcutaneous effusion and the skin flap necrosis , and it is needed to further study to prevent the incidence of the paretic upper-limb edema . Key words: Breast cancer; Complication; Postoperative nursing; Brake type pillow