Effects of Acupressure on Pain and Vital Signs of Patients Following Small Abdominal Surgeries: A Clinical Trial

Background: Several studies have investigated the effect of acupressure on pain and vital signs however the results are inconsistent. Either no study has been conducted on the effect of acupressure on vital signs of post-surgical patients, or it is not available. Objectives: The present study was conducted to assess the effects of P6 acupressure on pain and vital signs of patients following small abdominal surgeries. Patients and Methods: A double-blind randomized controlled trial has been conducted during the first three months in 2012 on patients after small abdominal surgeries in Al-Zahra hospital of Isfahan. Patients who were candidates for small abdominal surgeries and met the inclusion criteria were entered the study and were randomly allocated to the intervention and placebo groups (40 patients in each group). In the intervention group, acupressure was applied to P6 acupoint on both hands. An acuband without a push button was also placed around the patients' wrist in the placebo (control) group. Acubands were worn for seven hours. Pain and vital signs were assessed prior starting acupressure and once every hour in the first seven hours after regaining consciousness. Data analysis has been conducted with SPSS version 11.5. T test was applied to compare the severity of pain and the mean of vital signs in the two groups. Results: The mean score of pain severity was higher in P6 group at the first and fourth hours following surgery but this score was lower in this group at other times. However, the differences between the mean of pain severity of the two groups were not statistically significant. In total, no significant differences were observed between the vital signs parameters in the two groups at seven hours. Conclusions: This study showed that P6 acupressure had no statistically significant effect on post-operative pain, and vital signs of patients who underwent small abdominal surgeries. Further investigations with larger sampling are suggested.