The use of therapeutic cushion in the post-operative of mastectomy

Breast cancer is a neoplasm caused by the multiplication of abnormal breast cells with the capacity to evolve in various ways, some of which develop quickly while others develop more slowly according to the specific characteristics of each tumor. Mastectomy is one of the forms of treatment of breast cancer, being a surgery that can be performed in a total, radical modified or prophylactic way, for oncological or preventive reasons. Objective: to verify if the use of the therapeutic pillow offered through Facimed's extension project “Heart pillow - sewing love” in the mastectomy postoperative period showed the result of providing the physical and psychological comfort initially estimated in the extension project. The methodology is a cross-sectional, quantitative descriptive field survey that interviewed 23 participants who received the pillow during the execution of the extension project. Results: of the 23 participants, 21 (91.30%) are female, 15 (65.21%) married, with a predominance of white in 12 (52.17%). The mean age of the patients was 54 years old, with the age range of 42 to 59 years old prevailing in 12 (52.17%) patients. Regarding the type of surgical procedure performed, bilateral total mastectomy prevailed in 12 (52.17%) of the cases, followed by 7 (30.43%) of partial mastectomy and 4 (17.43%) of breast reconstruction, being the breast cancer was the main reason for performing the procedures in 21 (91.30%) cases. It is concluded that the therapeutic pillow provided by the extension project presented realistic benefits to patients undergoing mastectomy surgery and breast reconstruction, assisting in the postoperative recovery of patients, preventing complications resulting from the surgical procedure, in addition to strengthening care bonds between nursing staff and patients.