[Osteopathy for chronic pain after breast cancer surgery: A monocentric randomised study]

Twenty-five to 65% of patients suffer from chronic pain after breast cancer. The treatment combines analgesic drugs and psychophysical techniques.

Hypothesis: Osteopathy improves the control of pain and the quality of life of patients.

Methods: This randomized prospective single center study allocated patients to the initiation of a standard analgesic treatment exclusively (arm A) or associated to osteopathy (arm B) between from 1 to 12months after surgery.

Main objective: Intensity of pain (VAS at three months [j90]).

Secondary objectives: Pain (VAS) at 6 and 12 months, analgesic consumption, anxiety/depression (HADS), and Quality of life (QLQ-C30). Eighty patients were planned to observe a 2-point difference in VAS (5% bilateral alpha, 90% power).

Results: Twenty-eight patients (A: 14; B: 14, median age 50 years) were included from April 2011 to February 2014; the study was stopped due to a too slow recruitment. No difference in the VAS pain score between arms was observed at j90 (P=0.258), nor at 6 and 12 months. At j90, the HADS depression score was reduced in arm B (P=0.049). Improvement in the overall score of quality of life (P=0.015), and reduced pain sub-score (P=0.021) were observed at j90 in arm B.

Discussion: Patients are strongly seeking complementary therapies. Few studies exist. Our study has encountered major recruitment difficulties therefore limiting the interpretation of the results. Despite the absence of difference in the main objective, some other scores (QOL, depression) are noteworthy in favor of osteopathy. Further multicentric studies are needed.