Abstract:
This quasi-experimental research aimed to determine the effects of foot reflex zone therapy (FRZT) on abdominal distention, suffering, and peristalsis movement during three days postoperative abdominal hysterectomy. The purposive samples comprised 60 abdominal hysterectomy patients who were under general anesthesia recruited from the general and private gynecologic ward in a tertiary care hospital located in metropolitan Bangkok, Thailand, from September, 2003 to May 2004. The purposive sampling was applied to purposive samples due to the inclusion criteria, and the first 30 cases were classified into control group and the following 30 cases into experimental group. The control group received the usual care whereas the experimental group received a combination of the usual care and the FRZT for 45 minutes per day on post-op day 1, 2 and 3. The research instruments were data record forms regarding patients demographics and health condition, the measure of abdominal distention, suffering, and peristalsis movement. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and mean comparison statistics. The results showed that 1) in the three days after surgery, the experimental group had less mean scores of abdominal distention and suffering after FRZT than before FRZT, and they had the average number of peristalsis movement after FRZT more than before treatment; 2) in the three days after surgery, the control group had no difference mean scores of abdominal distention and suffering between before and after usual care, and there was no difference the average number of peristalsis movement on day 1 and day 3 between before and after usual care, but on day 2, they had the average number of peristalsis movement before usual care more than after usual care; 3) in the three days after surgery, the experimental group had less mean scores of abdominal distention and suffering than the control group, and they had less average number of peristalsis movement than the control group. Therefore, the nurses should combine the FRZT with anti-abdominal distention drug in order to reduce the abdominal distention in postoperative abdominal hysterectomy patients.