Symptom Experience After Surgical Treatment for Vulvar Cancer-A Scoping Review

BACKGROUND: Previous reviews have indicated a high burden of physical, emotional and sexual symptoms in women who have undergone surgery for vulvar cancer. Numerous surgical modifications have been made over the past few decades to limit post-operative symptoms. However, few reviews have investigated a wide range of symptoms in women with vulvar cancer. A comprehensive review of the literature examining these symptoms following advanced surgical treatment for vulvar cancer could contribute to an updated understanding of symptom experiences in these women.

AIM: To map the literature on women's symptom experiences after surgical treatment for vulvar cancer.

METHODS: A scoping review was conducted, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). The included studies provided independent analyses of women with vulvar cancer, utilised patient-reported outcome measures or qualitative data, were published between 2008 and 2024 and were in English, Danish, Norwegian or Swedish. Searches were conducted on February 20, 2024, in Embase, MEDLINE, CINAHL and PsycINFO. Data were thematically analysed as described by Braun and Clarke.

RESULTS: The following themes were identified in the 20 studies: lymphedema, sexuality and body image, pain, physical functioning, fatigue, urinary symptoms, emotional symptoms and support from relatives and healthcare professionals.

CONCLUSION: Women who have undergone surgery for vulvar cancer experience several physical and emotional symptoms. However, there is a shortage of qualitative studies that thoroughly explore the concept of symptom experience and quantitative studies that include vulvar-specific patient-reported outcome measures.

TRIAL AND PROTOCOL REGISTRATION: The protocol was preregistered on Open Science Framework on April 9, 2024, registration https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/429JW.