Representações das ações em mulheres mas mastectomizadas: exemplo de uma tarefa de rotação mental

Abstract

Breast cancer is an aggressive and mutilating disease responsible for the highest number of deaths among women in Brazil. The mastectomy postoperative period leads to limitations of upper limb movement, particularly of ipsilateral side to the affected breast. This research aimed to investigate whether motor representations of upper limb are modulated after mastectomy surgery. For this, a hand laterality judgment experiment was carried out, in which the participant identified whether the images projected on a computer screen represented a right or left hand. Respecting the inclusion criteria, 17 women participated in the study, 9 with mastectomy with some limitations of upper limb movements, ipsilateral to the affected breast and 8 healthy women who underwent the same experiment, at the Laboratory for the Evaluation and Rehabilitation of Cardiovascular Dysfunctions, Oncology and Respiratory - LACOR (UFPA). The results showed a lower accuracy for mastectomized women when assessing the laterality of the ipsilateral hand to the affected breast compared to the control group, particularly for restricted biomechanically postures (i.e., palmar view and 90° lateral orientation). Such results suggest changes in the motor representations of the upper limb ipsilateral to the affected breast.