Assessment of techniques of massage and pumping in the treatment of breast engorgement by thermography.

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate techniques of massage and pumping in the treatment of postpartum breast engorgement through thermography. METHOD: the study was conducted in the Human Milk Bank of a hospital in Curitiba, Brazil. We randomly selected 16 lactating women with engorgement with the classification lobar, ampullary and glandular, moderate and intense. We compared the differential patterns of temperature, before and after the treatment by means of massage and pumping. RESULTS: we found a negative gradient of 0.3°C of temperature between the pre- and post-treatment in the experimental group. Breasts with intense engorgement were 0.7°C warmer when compared with moderate engorgement. CONCLUSION: massage and electromechanical pumping were superior to manual methods when evaluated by thermography.