After mastectomy, women might lose mobility and develop kinematic changes in the shoulder. The objective of this research was to compare the kinematics of the glenohumeral joint in women, before and after unilateral breast cancer surgery. This was a longitudinal study with a pre- and post-evaluation design; in total, 15 Mexican women who had a mastectomy for breast cancer and who received a physical therapy program after surgery were evaluated. Flexion–extension and abduction–adduction movements of the glenohumeral joint were evaluated (15 days before and 60 days after mastectomy). For the kinematic analysis of the glenohumeral joint, an optoelectronic motion capture system was used to monitor 41 reflective markers located in anatomical landmarks. There was no significant difference in the range of motion of the glenohumeral joint when comparing pre- and post-mastectomy, flexion–extension (p = 0.138), and abduction–adduction (p = 0.058). Furthermore, patients who received chemotherapy (53%) before mastectomy were more affected (lower range of motion) than those who did not receive it. There were no significant differences in the kinematics of the glenohumeral joint after mastectomy in this group of patients who received a physical therapy program after surgery. Moreover, patients who received chemotherapy treatment before breast cancer surgery tended to have a lower range of motion than those who did not receive it. Therefore, it is necessary for the physical rehabilitation team to attend to these patients even before the mastectomy.

The kinematic assessment of the upper limbs in breast cancer (BC) survivors is one of the most common procedures to determine the recovery process after BC surgery. However, the methodology used is heterogeneous, finding various evaluation methods, which makes it difficult to compare results between studies. The objective of this review was to identify the technical features of the kinematic evaluation methods used in patients with mastectomy for BC. A literature review was conducted to search in electronic databases, such as PubMed, ScienceDirect, Clinical Key, Google Scholar, and Scopus. A total of 641 articles were obtained. After screening the title and the summary of the investigations, 20 manuscripts were kept for a deeper analysis. Different methodologies were found for the analysis of the kinematics of the upper limbs. Eight (40%) articles used the optoelectronic system, nine (45%) used the electromagnetic system, and three (15%) used other optoelectronic systems to assess shoulder kinematics. Each investigation studied different variables such as the type of surgery, the evaluation time, the age of the patients, the rehabilitation protocol, and so on. This makes the comparison among studies difficult, and the recovery process of the patients cannot be easily determined. In conclusion, the interpretation of the movement of the upper limbs should be easy to understand for oncologists, physiotherapists, clinicians, and researchers.