Effect of Local Cold Therapy on Arterial Blood Oxygen Saturation and Temperature Changes in Patients Undergoing Surgery

Postoperative complications can endanger the patient's life and disrupt the recovery process if not properly managed. Local cold therapy can be a safe non-pharmacologic method to manage these side effects; however, it has not been highly considered.

This study was done to determine the effect of local cold therapy on arterial blood oxygen saturation and temperature changes in patients undergoing surgery.

This quasi-experimental study was performed at Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences in 2019 on 60 patients undergoing thoracic and abdominal surgery selected by convenience sampling, and they were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. The intervention (local cold therapy) was performed for 48 hours after full consciousness, three times a day for 20 minutes to the intervention group. Data were collected before and after the intervention using a demographic questionnaire, pulse oximetry device, and thermometer. The data were analyzed based on the independent samples t-test, paired-samples t-test, and chi-square and Fishers’ exact tests by SPSS version 20 software.

The mean arterial blood oxygen saturation percentage (O2Sat%) during the intervention significantly increased in both groups (P < 0.05), but the rate of increase was significantly higher in the local cold group (P < 0.05). The results of within-group research showed that the mean temperature had significant differences in the local cold therapy group (P < 0.05), but the mean body temperature did not show a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05).

Local cold therapy can be effectively trained and used by nurses to improve the O2Sat%. It did not affect postoperative body temperature. Further studies must be conducted to investigate the effects of local cold therapy on postoperative body temperature changes.