THE EFFECT OF APPLYING COLD GEL PACK ON THE ANXIETY OF STERNAL INCISION ASSOCIATED WITH DEEP BREATHING AND COUGHING IN CARDIAC SURGERY PATIENTS

Coughing & deep breathing after sternotomy is along with high levels of anxiety، that it can be followed by adverse consequences in patients after open heart surgery. So this study was conducted to assess the impact of cold therapy on the anxiety in patients undergoing open heart surgery.

In this clinical trial study، 50 eligible and consenting patients were recruited and randomly allocated to intervention and control group. The data were gathered through State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Data were analyzed using the t test.

The results of this study showed that the use of cold gel pack leads to the reduction of the mean of anxiety score in the intervention group (P=0. 02).

This study demonstrates that cold therapy can be effective on anxiety of sternal incision in deep breathing and coughing.