• J Clin Nurs · Nov 2009

    Randomized Controlled Trial

    A randomised controlled trial of the effects of cryotherapy on pain, eyelid oedema and facial ecchymosis after craniotomy.

    • Yong Soon Shin, Nan Young Lim, Sung-Cheol Yun, and Kwang Ok Park.
    • Department of Neurological Surgery, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. ysshin@amc.seoul.kr
    • J Clin Nurs. 2009 Nov 1; 18 (21): 3029-36.

    AimTo identify the effects of cryotherapy on patient discomfort following craniotomy.BackgroundFollowing craniotomy, many patients suffer from unexpected discomfort, including pain, eyelid oedema and ecchymosis. Cryotherapy is regarded as a safe method for managing these postcraniotomy problems.DesignRandomised controlled trial.MethodsA total of 97 Korean patients who underwent elective supratentorial craniotomy were randomly assigned to a cryotherapy or a control group. In the cryotherapy group, ice bags were applied to surgical wounds, and cold gel packs were applied to periorbital areas, for 20 minutes per hour, beginning three hours postoperatively and for three days thereafter. The level of patient pain was measured using the visual analogue scale while the eyelid oedema was measured using the Kara & Gokalan's scale. Ecchymosis was also classified according to its extent.ResultsThe level of pain three hours after craniotomy was similar in the cryotherapy and control groups (57.9 vs. 58.7). Three days after surgery, pain had significantly decreased in the cryotherapy group (p = 0.021). After adjusting diagnosis by analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), pain score did not differ significantly between the two groups. The mean eyelid oedema scores were lower in the cryotherapy group than in the control group (0.59 vs. 2.29, p < 0.001), with ANCOVA showing that cryotherapy had a significant effect on eyelid oedema (p < 0.001). Pain (p = 0.047) and eyelid oedema (p < 0.001) in the cryotherapy group were significantly decreased over time. Ecchymosis were significantly less frequent in the cryotherapy (11/48, 22.9%) than in the control (26/49, 53.1%) group (p = 0.003). Logistic regression analysis showed that cryotherapy affected ecchymosis (p = 0.001).ConclusionThese results indicate that cryotherapy can control pain, eyelid oedema and facial ecchymosis after craniotomy.Relevance To Clinical PracticeCryotherapy, which is both convenient and cost-effective, can be used to prevent postoperative discomforts in a clinical setting.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…