Acute Post-Operative Pain Management Using Massage As Adjuvant Therapy

BACKGROUND / RATIONALE:

Postoperative pain is often undertreated. Although studies have demonstrated that many patients experience a substantial degree of unrelieved pain following operative procedures and that this pain can increase the incidence of serious complications, the management of discomfort continues to be suboptimal. Narcotic analgesia is the mainstay of acute postoperative pain management but patient, clinician, and institutional barriers often limit the effectiveness of drug treatment. Furthermore, pharmacologic interventions alone may not address all the factors involved in the conscious experience of pain. Massage is a complementary or adjunctive medical technique that has been used for thousands of years. Yet there is scant research related to the use of massage therapy in postoperative pain management. Used in tandem with pharmacologic treatments, massage may have the potential to substantially improve acute pain relief.

OBJECTIVE(S):

The proposed research will test the hypotheses that: 1) perceived post-operative pain and anxiety decrease over time (5 days) more rapidly in the massage group compared with the focused attention and routine care groups; 2) perceived post-operative pain and anxiety are immediately reduced in the massage group compared with the focused attention and routine care groups. (differences in pre/post daily scores); 3) post-operative complication rate is reduced and function is improved by the adjuvant use of massage compared to the control groups; 4) the adjuvant use of massage reduces postoperative length of stay and cost of care; and 5) patient satisfaction with postoperative pain relief is enhanced by the adjuvant use of massage.

METHODS: