DESCRIPTION OF THE EFFECTS OF WHIRLPOOL THERAPY ON POSTOPERATIVE PAIN AND SURGICAL WOUND HEALING.
Contributors: Louisiana State University Medical Ctr. In New Orleans, S. Of Nursing.
Published: 1994
Number of pages: 109
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery.
Description: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of whirlpool therapy on pain and surgical wound healing in adults having major abdominal surgery. Sixty-three male and female subjects, ages 25 to 60, participated in a quasi-experimental study of repeated measures of pain and surgical wound assessments over a three-day period. The period of assessment began on the evening post-surgery and continued for two additional days. Subjects were studied at two southeast, general hospitals. Both hospitals used the same postoperative pain regimen of Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA), while only one used the whirlpool therapy postoperatively. Hypotheses for this study were: Hypothesis 1. There will be no significant difference in postoperative incisional pain experienced by patients receiving whirlpool therapy and Patient Controlled Analgesia than those receiving PCA only. Hypothesis 2. There will be no significant difference in the amount of postoperative surgical wound inflammation in patients receiving whirlpool therapy and Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA) than those receiving PCA only. Instruments used in this study were: the McGill-Melzack Pain Questionnaire, the Pain Rating Scale, and the Wound Assessment Inventory. Each subject completed the McGill-Melzack Pain Questionnaire in the hospital room. During a brief interview and observation period, the researcher completed the Pain Rating Scale and the Wound Assessment Inventory. A power analysis was done prior to data collection to determine appropriateness of the sample size. Statistical tests appropriate for data the researcher collected from the McGill-Melzack Pain Questionnaire, the Pain Rating Scale, and the Wound Assessment Inventory included: (a) descriptive statistics including means, frequencies, and percentages; (b) Analysis of Variance; (c) t-test; and (d) Mann-Whitney U Test. A.05 level of significance was considered acceptable during data analysis procedures.

Statistical tests for repeated measures revealed the experimental group response to pain was not significant using the McGill-Melzack tool to measure pain verbally. It did reveal that the observer scored pain behaviors with the Pain Rating Scale (PRS) were significant for three consecutive days. Also statistical tests for repeated measures of wound healing revealed less signs of surgical wound inflammation in the experimental group over a three-day period. It was concluded that the intervention of whirlpool therapy promoted some degree of comfort and positive signs of wound healing.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-01, Section: B, page: 0174.

Thesis (D.N.S.)--LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CTR. IN NEW ORLEANS, S. OF NURSING, 1994.

School code: 1053.