Comparing the Effect of Acupressure and Cryotherapy on the Pain Caused by Removal of Chest Drain Tube in the Elderly Patients Undergoing Open Heart Surgery

Aging has a growing trend in the world. The elderly experience a high incidence of hospitalization and coronary bypass surgery compared with other age groups, and pain is the most common complaint in these patients. This research was conducted to compare the effect of acupressure and cryotherapy on the pain of removing drain tube from the chest of the elderly who have undergone open heart surgery.
In this quasi-experimental clinincal trial, 150 elderly people undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting with drain tube in their chests and hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit of Shahid Rajaei Hospital (affiliated to Alborz University of Medical Sciences and Health and Treatment Services, Tehran, Iran) were selected through random sampling method. Then, they were divided into 3 groups of acupressure, cryotherapy, and control. The acupressure group received pressure on ST36, P6, LI4 points. The cryotherapy group received cold therapy through applying three packs of cooling gel, and the control group received routine postoperative cares. The pain intensity was measured 20 minutes before the insertion of the tube, during insertion, and 10 minutes after removal of the drain tube. The tools for collecting data were abbreviated mental test form, demographic questionnaire, and visual analoge scale. The obtained data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics by SPSS version 20.
In terms of demographic characteristics, the patients were homogenous. Before the intervention, there were no significant differences among three groups in terms of pain intensity (P=0.93). However, after the intervention, pain intensity, immediately after, and 10 minutes after removal of chest tube, significantly reduced in the experimental groups compared with the control group (P˂0.001). In general, reduction of pain intensity was higher in the acupressure group compared with the other two groups (P˂0.001).
Applying acupressure on ST36, LI4, and P6 points is effective in reducing the intensity of pain caused by removal of drain tube from the chest of the elderly patients. It is recommended as a safe and inexpensive drug-free approach to control pain caused by the removal of drain tube.