The effect of acupressure on muscle cramps in patients undergoing hemodialysis

Abstract

Background:Pain resulting from muscle cramps is one of the most common outcomes of hemodialysis. One of the mechanisms associated with muscle cramps is unnatural muscle metabolism. Because acupressure improves muscle metabolism through the releasing of energy, this study was performed with the purpose of determining the impact of acupressure on muscle cramps.Materials and Methods:This study was a single-blind clinical trial. Accordingly, 64 patients were selected and intensity and frequency of muscle cramps were determined by randomly categorizing them into two groups. The intervention group received 9 sessions of acupressure and the control group received 9 sessions of placebo intervention. The intervention was performed 15 min before hemodialysis in both groups. In both the groups, average intensity of pain and the frequency pain was compared before, after, and 1 month after completion of the intervention.Results:Data analysis revealed that there were no significant statistical differences between the two groups in terms of mean value of intensity (P = 0.586) and frequency (P = 0.780) of muscle cramps before the intervention. We observed a significant difference after completion of intervention sessions (P < 0.001). Moreover, there were no significant differences between mean value of intensity (P < 0.001) and frequency (P = 0.030) of muscle cramps in the control group before, after, and 1 month after the completion of 9 sessions of placebo intervention.Conclusions:Employing acupressure may result in decrease of muscle cramps in patients undergoing hemodialysis.

Evaluation of the effect of nutrition-related visual education on the comfort of patients receiving hemodialysis therapy

“…The decrease in psychospiritual transcendence scores seen in the control group may be due to any situation in the individuals' life processes or hemodialysis therapy (decreased support system, experiencing complications, etc.). In the literature, although there are studies evaluating the effects of different interventions on HD patients' comfort, only one study examines the effect of training on comfort [46][47][48][49][50]. Tabiee et al [50] administered back massages and gave training to patients and families in the intervention group in six consecutive hemodialysis sessions, and they examined changes in patient comfort.…”

The effect of nonpharmacologic interventions for muscle cramps and restless‐leg syndrome in hemodialysis patients: A meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials

“…No blinding was performed in the remaining six studies [7, 17, 19, 21, 25, 27]. Regarding withdrawals and dropouts, eight studies were of strong quality [18, 20–24, 26, 28], while five studies were of low quality due to high rates of withdrawals and dropouts or lack of reporting [7, 16, 17, 19, 27] (Table 3).…”

“…The patients were asked to mark the number reflecting their cramp severity, with “0” indicating the absence of cramps and “10” indicating the presence of very severe cramps. Researcher‐made questionnaire for cramp frequency : The researchers have developed an objective chart that allows HD patients to measure and record the number of cramps experienced by them. According to the literature, this chart can be practically, objectively, and reliably used in the evaluation of cramping, which is a visible symptom [7, 16, 18]. International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group Scale ( IRLSSGS ): This scale was developed by the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group (IRLSSG) in 2003.…”

Acupressure for sleep disorders, fatigue, depression and pruritus in hemodialysis patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Of the 14 included papers, one was published in Chinese [8] and the rest were published in English. Four of the studies [8][9][10][11] were conducted in China, six in Iran [12][13][14][15][16][17], three in Turkey [18-20], and one in Australia [21]. For the intervention, three studies [18-20] mentioned the involvement of the Electrostimulation Device in their implementation, while the rest were performed by health care professionals, three times a week for four weeks.…”