Ziaei Azarkhavarani F. et al., 2023: Effect of acupressure on pain among older female patients undergoing extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy: A randomized controlled clinical trial.
Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.
Elderly Care Research Center, Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.
Nursing and Midwifery Care Research Center, Faculty of Nursing, Isfahan University of Medical sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Department of Urology, School of Medicine, Al-Zahra Hospital, Khorshid Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Abstract
Background and aim: Urinary stones are highly prevalent among older people. Extracorporeal lithotripsy is one of the commonly used treatment methods, but it causes pain. Acupressure is a non-pharmacological therapeutic method that is effective in relieving pain among patients with various health conditions. This study aimed to investigate the effect of acupressure on pain among female older people undergoing extracorporeal lithotripsy.
Method: This randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on 66 older female patients undergoing extracorporeal lithotripsy. They were enrolled in the study through convenient sampling and were assigned to the intervention and control groups through the block randomization method. The intervention group underwent acupressure for 16 min which was repeated twice with an interval of 20 min, but the control group received only touch without any pressure for the same period. The McGill Pain Questionnaire and Visual Analogue Scale were completed 60 min before the intervention and immediately after lithotripsy.
Findings: Before the intervention, no statistically significant difference in the quality and intensity of pain between the two groups was observed (p > 0.05). However, after acupressure, the mean scores of quality and intensity of pain decreased significantly (p < 0.001) in the intervention group compared with the control group.
Conclusion: Acupressure as a complementary and alternative medicine can reduce pain and suffering among older people undergoing extracorporeal lithotripsy. It can be included in the routine therapeutic measures for relieving pain and suffering during noninvasive methods for older people and reducing their need for medication use and avoiding related pharmacological side effects.
Explore (NY). 2023 Aug 2:S1550-8307(23)00170-2. doi: 10.1016/j.explore.2023.07.010. Online ahead of print.PMID: 37573221
Comments 1
Hmm! I am not convinced. It is not stated what pain medication the patients got in the two group and if there was a difference. The placebo effect is known to vary between 0 and 50 %. The patients had to be informed about the acupressure procedure before randomization to be able to agree or decline. The acupressure got a really different treatment compared to the control group and surely realized this.
I do not find the results impressive.
Peter Alken