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Once amputations were the lifesaver, today physiotherapy. Four decades of oncology rehabilitation

MedExpress Team

Medexpress

Published Nov. 4, 2024 08:39

Once amputations were the lifesaver, today physiotherapy. Four decades of oncology rehabilitation - Header image
fot. Piotr Wójcik
- It happened that patients with severe edema could only be helped by amputating a limb. Oncological rehabilitation changed everything," recalls Prof. Andrzej Kulakowski, doyen of Polish oncology. Over the past four decades, oncology rehabilitation in Poland has undergone a significant transformation, transforming from a marginal practice to an integral part of comprehensive cancer patient care. Today, physiotherapy is available at various stages of cancer treatment - from the preoperative phase, through the period of intensive therapy, to the remission phase or palliative care. The inclusion of physiotherapists in the multidisciplinary oncology team allows for a more comprehensive and holistic view of the patient's needs.

The birth of oncology rehabilitation in Poland

Forty years ago, the situation for cancer patients was very different from today. There was a lack of knowledge about oncology rehabilitation, and people who had undergone mastectomies, surgeries in the head and neck region, or other surgical procedures, were often left to fend for themselves. Many of them suffered from severe lymphedema, mobility problems, and had to deal with pain and mental strain. Sometimes, breast surgery patients who experienced severe lymphedema had to undergo further complicated surgeries and even limb amputations because
systemic rehabilitation solutions were lacking.

Specialists at the then Oncology Center, now the Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Institute of Oncology -
National Research Institute (NIO-PIB), decided to tackle this challenge by establishing the Rehabilitation Department in 1984. It was the first oncological rehabilitation facility in Poland and one of the first units of the Institute to be opened in its new prem...

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