The Effects of Ear Acupressure on Back Pain after Coronary Angiography: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Back pain is a common complaint seen in patients after coronary angiography. This study investigated the efficacy of ear acupressure for reduction of back pain in patients after coronary angiography. In this trial, 120 patients recruited from a post-angiography ward were allocated to an ear acupressure or a control group. Pain assessment in intervention group was performed immediately after participants entered post- coronary angiography ward (T0), twenty minutes after entering the ward (T1), and two, four, and six hours after the intervention (T2–T4). Pain in control group was assessed at the times similar to intervention group. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software (v. 19) by Chi-square, Fisher’s exact, independent t tests, Friedman test, Wilcoxon signed-rank, and Mann-Whitney U test. Final data analysis was done on the data gathered from 58 participants in the control group and 59 in the ear acupressure group. The pain intensity at T1–T4 for patients in the control group was significantly higher than T0 (P < 0.001), while patients in the ear acupressure group reported that pain intensity at T2–T4 was significantly higher than T0 for them (P < 0.001). Only at T1 and T2, pain intensity in the ear acupressure group was significantly less compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Ear acupressure in this study was effective to some extent in reducing back pain after coronary angiography. Future studies can be designed to examine the effects of ear acupressure using different ear acupressure points on the back pain after coronary angiography.

Effect of acupressure on the anxiety and pain of patients undergoing cardiac catheterization: A systematic review

“…As illustrated in Figure 2, all nine studies [5,14,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25] achieved a high level of quality.…”

“…A detailed examination of the full texts of fifty-two studies revealed that thirty-one studies were deemed inadequate in terms of design and findings, while twelve studies lacked essential data. Ultimately, nine studies [5,14,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25] met the inclusion criteria and were included in this systematic review.…”

“…As outlined in Table 1, a total of 781 participants were included across the nine studies [5,14,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. Among the participants, 59.06% were male, and 57.11% were assigned to the intervention group.…”

“…The average age of the participants was 55.72 years (SD=9.13). All studies (5,14,(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25) were randomized controlled trials (RCTs), with eight studies [5,14,19,[21][22][23][24][25] conducted in Iran and one study [20] conducted in Turkey. Nine studies (5, 14, 19-25) incorporated a control group, and one study [14] included a follow-up component.…”

“…Nine studies (5, 14, 19-25) incorporated a control group, and one study [14] included a follow-up component. Regarding measurement tools, four studies [5,19,20,23] employed the Spielberger Trait State Anxiety Inventory, three studies [14,24,25] utilized the Visual Analog Scale for pain, one study [21] used the Visual Analog Scale for anxiety, and one study [22] employed the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale.…”