The effect of lavender aromatherapy and acetaminophen as preemptive on comfort and Nitroglycerin-induced headache in acute coronary syndrome.

Background: Nitroglycerin (NTG) improves cardiac ischemia, but one of its side effects is headache. This study aimed to compare the effects of lavender aromatherapy and acetaminophen as preemptive interventions on comfort and NTG-induced headache in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Methods: This three-arm randomized clinical trial was conducted on 90 patients divided into three groups of 30. In the acetaminophen group, patients were given 500 mg of oral acetaminophen approximately 15 minutes before IV nitroglycerin infusion. In the lavender group, 15 minutes before nitroglycerin IV infusion, cotton gauze soaked in three drops of 2% lavender essential oil was used. In the control group, patients received routine care for the treatment of NTG-induced headaches. The severity of patients' headaches was evaluated using the visual analog scale (VAS) at 5, 10, 15, and 60 minutes after starting nitroglycerin infusion.

Results: The mean headache intensity at the 60th minute in the lavender and control groups was 1.37 ± 1.10 and 2.50 ± 2.43, respectively, while no headaches were reported in the acetaminophen group. The highest mean pain severity recorded at different times was 2.12 ± 0.86 in the control group. Headache severity varied across the intervention minutes among the three groups (p < 0.001). Additionally, post-intervention comfort was significantly higher in the acetaminophen and lavender groups compared to the control group (p < 0.001), with a significant difference observed between the groups (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that acetaminophen can be used as a preemptive agent to reduce NTG-induced headaches and improve the comfort of ACS patients.