COMPARISON OF THE EFFECT OF AURICULOTHERAPY AND FOOT REFLEXOLOGY ON THE SENSORY AND EMOTIONAL ASPECTS OF PAIN AND THE USE OF PAINKILLERS AFTER ELECTIVE CAESAREAN SECTION

Foot reflexology and auriculotherapy are two complementary treatments for pain relief. Considering that it is necessary to evaluate the efficiency and priorities in the use of complementary medicine methods. Therefore, this study was conducted in the aim of comparing the effect of auriculotherapy and foot reflexology on the sensory and emotional dimensions of pain and the use of painkillers after elective cesarean delivery.

This three-group randomized clinical-trial study was conducted on 101 pregnant women eligible for the study who had referred to Om al-Banin hospital in Mashhad for elective cesarean section using convenient sampling method. After selecting research units and randomly assigning women into 21 blocks of 6 using randomized block method, research units were divided into three groups of auriculotherapy, foot reflexology, and control. There were 36 people in each group. In the intervention groups, 2 to 3 hours after the operation, auriculotherapy was performed in one group and foot reflexology was performed for 20 minutes in the other group. In the control group, routine ward care was performed. In all three groups, if needed, the research units received painkillers (diclofenac suppository 100 mg) according to the hospital routine, and the number of painkillers consumed by the researcher was recorded up to 24 hours after the operation. Pain was assessed with the short form of the McGill Pain Questionnaire, one and two hours after the intervention. Finally, the data was analyzed using SPSS version 16 software and chi-square tests, Fisher's exact test, one-way analysis of variance and analysis of variance with variable sizes. The significance level of P is less than 0.05 was considered significant.

The results showed that in the groups that the interventions were done after one and two hours, sensory dimension of pain was significantly lower than control group just in auriculotherapy group (p values respectively p=0.004 and P<0.001). Moreover, two hours after the interventions, affective dimension of pain was significantly lower than control group just in auriculotherapy group (p=0.008) But no significant difference was observed between the Foot reflexology and control group (P>0.05). The consumption of rectal diclofenac was statistically lower in the both intervention groups compared with control group (P<0.001). Postpartum hemorrhage for 2 hours after interventions were no difference in the three groups (P > 0.05).

Auriculotherapy and foot reflexology both can reduce consumption of analgesic. However, auriculotherapy is more effective in reducing sensory and affective dimensions of pain.