Effect of acupressure application on patients’ nausea, vomiting, pain, and sleep quality after laparoscopic cholecystectomy: A randomized placebo-controlled study

Background and objectives

Nausea, vomiting, pain and insomnia in the postoperative period may cause discomfort, and this may adversely affect the patient's compliance with the treatment. This study was conducted to determine the effect of acupressure on nausea, vomiting, pain, and sleep quality after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Methods

This was a randomized controlled experimental study with a placebo group. The sample comprised 188 patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy (control:64;experimental:64;and placebo:60). Acupressure was performed on the experimental and placebo groups with a wristband for 24 hours. The data were collected at the 0th, 2nd, 6th, 12th, and 24th postoperative hours. Data were collected using the patient introduction form, numeric nausea scale, visual analog scale(VAS), verbal category scale(VCS), and Richards-campbell sleep questionnaire(RCSQ).

Result

The difference between the mean scores of nausea severity and the presence of nausea at the postoperative 0–2, 2–6, and 12–24 hours was statistically significant between the groups and the presence and the severity of nausea was lower in the experimental group (p<0.05). Although not statistically significant, less vomiting was observed in the experimental group patients compared to the control group patients at postoperative 0–2, 2–6, and 12–24 hours. There was no significant difference between the mean VAS and VCS scores of the groups at postoperative 2^nd, 6^th, and 24^th hours (p >0.05). The mean RCSQ total scores of the patients in the experimental group were significantly higher (p<0.001).

Conclusion

Acupressure applied to the PC6 point after laparoscopic cholecystectomy reduced postoperative nausea and vomiting and positively affected sleep quality.