The effect of acupressure on pain severity of chest tube removal in patients with open heart surgery in intensive care unit

Pain due to chest tube removal (CTR) is a major complaint among patients who undergo open heart surgery. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of acupressure on pain intensity after chest tube removal in patients with open heart surgery in intensive care unit (ICU). This research study was a randomized controlled clinical trial. The subjects consisted of 100 patients with open heart surgery and two or more chest tubes، hospitalized in the intensive care unit of Shariati Hospital in Tehran. The sampling method was consecutive and the patients were randomly allocated to two groups، i. e. the control and experimental groups. Experimental group received acupressure and control group received touch on the same point. The tool for data collection was composed of demographic data and pain intensity of the participants. Pain intensity was measured 10 minutes before (baseline)، immediately and 15 minutes following chest tube removal by using the 0-10 numeric Visual Analogue rating scale. Data were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS software (Version 15). One hundred patients participated in the study and no differences were found regarding the participants'' personal characteristics and intensity of pre-intervention pain. There was also a significant difference between the two groups regarding pain intensity (p = 0. 01) immediately after the chest tube removal. The obtained results indicated that acupressure is an effective non-pharmacologic method for control of the immediate pain due to chest tube removal in post-cardiac surgery patients.