Effect of foot and hand massage in post-cesarean section pain control: a randomized control trial.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to determine the effect of hand and foot massage on post-cesarean section pain and its potential to reduce analgesic requests.
Results Summary
The study found that hand and foot massage significantly reduced post-cesarean pain intensity (p < .001) and decreased requests for analgesics (p < .001), suggesting it as an effective complementary method for pain management.
Population
80 pregnant women who underwent elective cesarean section at Mustafa Khomeini Hospital, Elam, Iran.
Effective Dosage
5 minutes of foot and hand massage.
Duration
Single session (immediate and 90-minute follow-up).
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
hand and foot massage | decrease | post-cesarean section pain intensity | pregnant women who had an elective cesarean section | - | reduced | #1 |
hand and foot massage | decrease | pain intensity | pregnant women who had an elective cesarean section | - | significant difference | #2 |
hand and foot massage | decrease | requests for analgesic | pregnant women who had an elective cesarean section | - | significant difference | #3 |
foot and hand massage | decrease | pain of cesarean section | - | - | reduce | #4 |
foot and hand massage | decrease | amount of medications | - | - | decrease | #5 |
foot and hand massage | decrease | side effects of medications | - | - | decrease | #6 |
One of the problems for mothers in the post-cesarean section period is pain, which disturbs the early relationship between mothers and newborns; timely pain management prevents the side effects of pain, facilitates the recovery of patient, reduces the costs of treatment by minimizing or eliminating the mother's distress, and increases mother-infant interactions. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of hand and foot massage on post-cesarean section pain. This study is a randomized and controlled trial which was performed in Mustafa Khomeini Hospital, Elam, Iran, April 1 to July 30, 2011; it was carried out on 80 pregnant women who had an elective cesarean section and met inclusion criteria for study. The visual analog scale was used to determine the pain intensity before, immediately, and 90 minutes after conducting 5 minutes of foot and hand massage. Vital signs were measured and recorded. The pain intensity was found to be reduced after intervention compared with the intensity before the intervention (p < .001). Also, there was a significant difference between groups in terms of the pain intensity and requests for analgesic (p < .001). According to these findings, the foot and hand massage can be considered as a complementary method to reduce the pain of cesarean section effectively and to decrease the amount of medications and their side effects.