Yuphawan Chittapiwat. A comparison of pain reduction methods in knee replacement patients : using cold compression before or both before and during exercise on continuous passive motion machine . Master's Degree(Adult Nursing). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2003.
A comparison of pain reduction methods in knee replacement patients : using cold compression before or both before and during exercise on continuous passive motion machine
Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of pain reduction between cold compression before passive exercise, and cold compression both before and during passive exercise by means of a continuous passive motion machine in total knee replacement patients. The thirty eligible total knee replacement patients from Siriraj Hospital were selected. A simple cross over design was used for this study. All participants received both methods of cold compression on the fourth postoperative day. One group of participants received cold compression only before exercise in the morning and cold compression both before and during exercise in the afternoon. For the other group the order of methods was reversed receiving cold compression both before and during exercise in the morning and only before exercise in the afternoon. Pain intensity was evaluated before, during, and after passive exercise by the vertical 0-10 Numeric Rating Scale. A comparison of pain score between two groups of cold compression methods was analyzed by ANOVA for a simple cross over design.
The results revealed that the participants who received cold compression before and during passive exercise had statistically significant lower pain scores than those of the participants who received cold compression only before passive exercise (p<.001). Furthermore, the participants who received cold compression before and during passive exercise had the most satisfaction.
The investigator suggests that nurses should apply cold compression before and during passive exercise to reduce pain in total knee replacement patients using the continuous passive motion machine in the rehabilitation period. Furthermore, nurses should recommend cold compression to discharged total knee replacement patients and their caregivers for a self-care method of decreasing pain.