The role of physical therapy in the treatment of lipedema: an integrative review of therapeutic strategies and the current clinical landscape
O papel da fisioterapia no tratamento do lipedema: uma revisão integrativa sobre estratégias terapêuticas e o panorama clínico atual
Débora Aparecida Oliveira Modena; Jaqueline Munaretto Timm Baiocchi; Elaine Caldeira de Oliveira Guirro
Abstract
Keywords
Resumo
O lipedema é uma doença crônica caracterizada pelo acúmulo desproporcional de tecido adiposo subcutâneo nos membros, poupando as mãos e os pés. É comumente associado a dor, hipersensibilidade, facilidade para hematomas, edema e nódulos fibróticos. Apesar da crescente conscientização, ainda não há consenso sobre abordagens terapêuticas baseadas em evidências. Esta revisão integrativa teve como objetivo identificar estratégias fisioterapêuticas descritas na literatura científica para a avaliação e o tratamento conservador do lipedema. Foram realizadas buscas nas bases de dados PubMed/MEDLINE, BVS, PEDro, Embase e Cochrane, seguidas de avaliação crítica e síntese das evidências, com uso de itens aplicáveis do checklist PRISMA-ScR como guia para o relato do processo de seleção dos estudos. Os resultados indicam que a fisioterapia desempenha um papel fundamental no tratamento conservador, particularmente por meio de terapia descongestiva complexa, terapia compressiva, exercícios, técnicas manuais e agentes eletrofísicos. Essas intervenções demonstram benefícios potenciais na redução da dor, melhora da função, controle do edema e prevenção da progressão da doença; no entanto, as evidências disponíveis ainda são limitadas, o que ressalta a necessidade de ensaios clínicos mais robustos para embasar a prática da fisioterapia baseada em evidências.
Palavras-chave
References
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Submitted date:
11/24/2025
Accepted date:
05/21/2026
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