The Effect of Foot Massage on Pain Intensity and Anxiety in Patients Having Undergone a Tibial Shaft Fracture Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the effect of massage therapy on pain intensity and anxiety in patients who have undergone tibial shaft fracture surgery.

DESIGN

This study was a randomized clinical trial with a pre-post design. As the study included 2 treatment groups, it was a parallel study.

SETTING

Khatam-Al-Anbia Hospital in Zahedan, Iran, between July and August 2017.

PATIENTS: In all, 66 patients who underwent a tibial shaft fracture surgery were enrolled and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups (33 patients each).

INTERVENTION: The intervention included a 10-minute foot massage (5 minutes per leg) using sweet almond oil, the most common lubricant used in massage therapy.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Data were collected using pain numeric rating scale and Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory before and after intervention.

RESULTS

After intervention, the mean scores for pain intensity, and anxiety in the intervention and control groups were 4.72 (0.97) and 5.72 (0.91), and 42.84 (6.50) and 58.36 (10.37), respectively. A significant difference was noted between the intervention and control groups concerning pain intensity and anxiety.

CONCLUSIONS

The results indicated that massage therapy reduced pain intensity and anxiety in patients who underwent tibial shaft fracture surgery. Therefore, using massage as a noninvasive and acceptable intervention is suggested in orthopaedic surgery, especially after tibial shaft fracture surgeries.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Level I. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.