Study of the Effect of Ear Acupressure on Stress and Serum Cortisol Level Before Rhinoplasty Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial

An increase in the level of cortisol hormone caused by preoperative stress may have undesirable effects on the surgery. Thus, it is necessary to manage the level of this hormone. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of ear acupressure on stress and serum cortisol hormone levels before rhinoplasty surgery.

The present randomized clinical trial study was carried out in six months and finished on August 21, 2019. In general, 66 participants were selected based on quadratic-block randomization at Imam Reza hospital, Tabriz. Ear acupressure group received the intervention in each ear twice a day for 10 minutes (the duration of each intervention) three days before the surgery. The data were recorded in the demographic form of Spielberger’s implicit and explicit stress just before and three hours after each intervention. The data were analyzed by SPSS 21 using Kolmogorov-Smirnov, independent samples t test, and chi-square statistical tests and P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Before the intervention, both groups showed no significant differences (P>0.05) regarding the amount of implicit and explicit stress and serum cortisol levels (P<0.05). However, a significant difference was observed in the stress and cortisol levels of the participants of both groups after implementing the interventions. Regarding the inter-group differences, there were no statistically significant differences between the means of the control group both before and after the intervention (P>0.05). In contrast, the intervention group faced significant changes considering the level of stress and serum cortisol in the posttest.

Overall, performing ear acupressure before rhinoplasty can reduce stress (implicit and explicit) and serum cortisol levels.