• Ali Hasanpour-Dehkordi, Kamal Solati, Shahriar Salehi Tali, and Mohamad Ali Dayani.
• Associated Professor, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran
• Br J Nurs. 2019 Feb 14; 28 (3): 174-178.

Introductionsurgery is a stressful experience for patients and most surgical patients have some degree of anxiety. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a relaxation technique in addition to narcotic analgesic on health promotion in surgical patients.Methodsin this clinical trial, 70 patients who were candidates for elective upper and lower gastrointestinal system surgery were selected. They were randomly divided into two groups: case (morphine 0.15 mg/kg daily in divided doses and progressive muscle relaxation (PMR)) and control (morphine 0.15 mg/kg daily in divided doses). The intervention group (case group) performed PMR from 6 hours before surgery until 24 hours after surgery. Vital signs and anxiety were evaluated in the two groups after surgery. Data were analysed by t-test, analysis of variance, and chi-square test.Resultsa statistically significant difference was seen in vital signs, pain and anxiety between the two groups. However, there was also a significant difference between them in terms of economic status and insurance coverage, which could have had an effect on stress and anxiety.ConclusionPMR could increase the pain threshold, stress and anxiety tolerance and adaptation level in surgical patients. Therefore, using this technique could be an appropriate way to reduce analgesic drug consumption.

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