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Can J Cardiovasc Nurs · Jan 2010
Randomized Controlled TrialCold therapy for the management of pain associated with deep breathing and coughing post-cardiac surgery.
- Myrianne Chailler, Jacqueline Ellis, Anne Stolarik, and Kirsten Woodend.
- University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON. mchai104@uottawa.ca
- Can J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2010 Jan 1; 20 (2): 18-24.
BackgroundCoughing has been identified as the most painful experience post cardiac surgery.MethodsParticipants (n = 32), in a randomized crossover trial, applied a frozen gel pack to their sternal incision dressing before performing deep breathing and coughing (DB & C) exercises. Pain scores from 0 to 10 at rest were compared with pain scores post DB & C with and without the gel pack. Participants were also asked to describe their sensations with the frozen gel pack, as well as their preferences for gel pack application.ResultsThe repeated measures analysis of variance revealed a significant reduction in pain scores between pre- and post-application of the gel pack (F = 28.69, p < .001). There were 22 (69%) participants who preferred the application of the gel pack compared with no gel pack. All 32 (100%) participants would reapply the gel pack in the future.ConclusionThis study demonstrates that cold therapy can be used to manage sternal incisional pain when DB & C.
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