COMPARING THE EFFECT OF GUIDED IMAGERY AND CRYOTHERAPY ON POST-OPERATIVE PAIN SEVERITY AND BLOOD PRESSURE AMONG LAPAROSCOPIC CHOLECYSTECTOMY INPATIENTS

Unwanted complications caused by surgery can cause pain and changes in the body's physiological indicators. According to the statistics and self-reports of patients, among abdominal surgeries, people undergoing cholecystectomy surgery report more pain than expected. Considering that guided imagery and cold therapy are cheap and non-invasive methods in complementary medicine and their positive and negative effects have been proven in previous studies, this study aimed to compare the impact of guided imagery and cold therapy (cold compress) in Pain severity and blood pressure in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy in a teaching hospital.

This clinical trial research was conducted on 93 patients using three groups of guided imagery, cold therapy, and control groups. Patients were selected using a simple sampling method in Imam Khomeini (R.A.) teaching Hospital in Urmia. First, patients' pain severity was measured using VAS after surgery and entering the ward. Each of the interventions (guided imagery and cold therapy) was performed for 20 minutes, and then pain severity and vital signs were measured in 15-30-45-60 minutes. There was no intervention in the control group. Statistical analysis was done with the SPSS ver 22.0 using descriptive and inferential statistics..

The variable distribution of gender and history of operation in the groups was not statistically significant. (P>0.05) The results indicated that age and weight variables had no effect in the study and were not statistically significant. (P>0.05) with time, the pain intensity decreased in all three groups, and the maximum reduction in pain severity was related to the fourth and second 15 minutes in the interventions and the fourth and third 15 minutes in the control group. By comparing the results of repeated measures variance and Tukey's post hoc test, pain severity and diastolic blood pressure were statistically significant, indicating the interventions' positive effect. (P<0.05). The interventions did not affect systolic blood pressure (P>0.05).

The use of guided imaging and cold therapy, along with drug therapy, is recommended to reduce pain severity and stabilize blood pressure after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.