Hydrotherapy Study on Pain and Wound Healing

A study at Southeastern Louisiana University, School of Nursing, USA has found that hydrotherapy can help alleviate pain and assist in wound healing of patients who have undergone major abdominal surgery.

Patients who have major abdominal surgery often experience pain because of increased tension on muscles and tissues at the abdominal incision site. Also, pain can be caused by pressure created from trapped anesthesia gases in the intestines. Both of these consequences can cause increased anxiety and stress resulting in poor pain management and this, in turn, may affect tissue regeneration.

An intervention, such as whirlpool therapy, can enhance relaxation and promote pain relief and normal wound healing. This study was designed to examine the effects of whirlpool therapy on pain and surgical wound healing in adults having major abdominal surgery. Sixty-three patients (43 female and 20 male), aged between 25-60, participated in the study of repeated measures of pain and surgical wound assessments over a 3-day period.

Statistical tests for repeated measures revealed that the patients in the hydrotherapy group experienced significantly less pain than the other patients for three consecutive days. Also, statistical tests for repeated measures of wound healing revealed less signs of surgical wound inflammation in the hydrotherapy group over the 3-day period. The report concluded that the intervention of whirlpool therapy promoted some degree of comfort and positive signs of wound healing.

Juve Meeker B Whirlpool therapy on postoperative pain and surgical wound healing: an exploration. Patient Educ Couns (IRELAND) Jan 1998, 33 (1) p39-48