Long-term Effect of Foot Massage on Postoperative Pain after Hysterecxtomy

Background and purpose: Pain is one of the most common problems after hysterectomy which causes long-term complications in postoperative recovery or delayed recovery. Today, there is a lot of tendency toward complementary medicine, including massage, to reduce the side effects of drugs. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of foot massage on postoperative pain after hysterecxtomy. Materials and methods: A randomized controlled clinical trial was performed in 60 eligible hysterectomy patients. They were selected by convenience sampling at Tehran Shariati Hospital and Tehran Valiasr Hospital and divided into two groups using simple random allocation (n=30 per group) in 2017. In intervention group, foot massage was given for 20 minutes daily on two consecutive days after the operation, while the control group received routine care. Visual analog scale was used to measure pain intensity before the intervention and 24 hr after the intervention and also five days after the surgery. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, independent t-test, Chi-square, and Fisher's exact test. Results: We observed significant differences in the mean scores for pain intensity before the intervention and 24 hr after the intervention between the intervention group (2.01±0.41) and the control group (0.47±0.21) (P<0.001). But, this difference was not significant five days after the surgery (P=0.3). Conclusion: Foot massage after hysterectomy is effective on reducing pain. This complementary method is easy and can be used as a low cost intervention along side other common treatments. (Clinical Trials Registry Number: IRCT201301196284N5)