The Effects of Reiki and Back Massage on the Pain and Vital Signs

The Effects of Reiki and Back Massage on the Pain and Vital Signs of Women After Abdominal Hysterectomy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The practice of Reiki and back massage applications in support of pharmacological treatment is among the nursing initiatives and these practices increase the autonomy of the profession. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of Reiki and back massage on pain, analgesic use and vital signs in women who had undergone open abdominal hysterectomy. This was an experimental study with a single, blinded, pretest-posttest control group. The population of the study consisted of women who had abdominal hysterectomy in the Obstetrics Clinics at Gazi Yasargil Training and Research Hospital and Dicle University Hospital between July 2017 and February 2018. The patients were divided into three groups: Reiki, back massage and control, with 34 patients in each group. Reiki or back massage were applied for 20 minutes once a day to the patients in the Reiki and back massage groups.

The study was carried out to determine the effect of Reiki and back massage application on pain, analgesic use and vital signs in women underwent open abdominal hysterectomy. This study used an experimental pretest and posttest design with two experimental groups (Reiki and back massage), and a control group. The population of the study consisted of women who underwent abdominal hysterectomy in the Obstetrics Clinics of the Gazi Training and Research Hospital and Dicle University Hospital between July 2017 and February 2018. Open abdominal hysterectomy is usually performed in clinics on a planned basis.The data were collected by the researcher in the clinic by the face-to-face interview method using the Patient Information Form, the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), and the Vital Signs and Postoperative Analgesic Follow-up Form.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients who underwent surgery in elective conditions,
• were hospitalized for at least two days after surgery,
• did not develop any serious complications after surgery,
• were operated on under general anesthesia,
• had no previous Reiki or back massage,
• had a pain level of 3 or above according to the Numeric Pain Rating Scale,
• had no cognitive, affective or communication problems,
• used only one type of analgesic (a non-narcotic analgesic)
• did not use patient-controlled analgesics.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with chronic disease (such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease),
• severe complications after surgery (such as bleeding, infection),
• those who were taking narcotic analgesics.