Journal of perianesthesia nursing : official journal of the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses
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J. Perianesth. Nurs. · Jun 2001
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialThe effects of acupressure on the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting in postsurgical patients.
Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is one of the most common postoperative complications. Aside from pharmacological interventions, other complementary healing modalities have been introduced to assist patients in decreasing PONV and improving postoperative outcomes. This study examined acupressure as a potentially holistic and safe complement to the more traditional approach of using drugs to prevent and/or relieve nausea and vomiting in the postoperative patient. ⋯ These findings must be viewed with caution, however, because power analysis showed low effect sizes and an inadequate sample size. Further research is recommended with a larger sample size. This study has made perianesthesia nurses more aware of other complementary modalities to assist patients with nausea and vomiting.
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J. Perianesth. Nurs. · Jun 2001
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialA comparison study on the effects of prewarming patients in the outpatient surgery setting.
Maintenance of core body temperature in surgical patients presents a challenge to perioperative nurses. Core temperatures less than 36 degrees C are associated with multiple adverse outcomes postoperatively. Internal redistribution of heat from the body core to the colder periphery results in core temperature decreases of 0.5 degrees C to 1.5 degrees C in the first 30 minutes after induction of anesthesia. ⋯ Temperatures were monitored every 15 minutes throughout the preoperative and postoperative periods. Patients in the forced warm air group had significantly higher temperatures on arrival to the PACU from the OR than did patients in the warm blanket group (P =.000). Patients in the forced warm air group exhibited a change in temperature of 0.0067 degrees C (+/-.52) compared with a decrease of 0.22 degrees C (+/-.48) for patients in the control group.