Post Surgical Massage May Ease Pain and Anxiety

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A newly released study shows that a good old-fashioned back massage can go a long way to easing the pain and anxiety that follows major surgery.

605 veterans were part of a randomized controlled trial conducted between 2003 and 2005 by Allison R. Mitchinson, M.P.H., and N.C.T.M.B., of the Department of Veteran Affairs, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The average age of the group was 64 and each patient was undergoing major chest or abdominal surgery. They found that massage was effective in relieving both post surgical pain and anxiety.

The report, which will be published in the December issue of the JAMA Archives of Surgery, notes that in the past, massage was routine for post surgical patients. But because healthcare systems have become more complex and administrative demands on nurses have increased, the massage has fallen by the wayside.

According to background information included in the report, despite the availability of pain medications, many patients still experience pain following surgery. The authors say that pain may be under treated because patients are afraid of becoming dependent on medication, are concerned about side effects or believe they should endure the pain without complaining or worrying about bothering nurses. They also note some may be getting ineffective doses of pain relievers because of personal biases, cultural attitudes or lack of knowledge on the part of physicians and nurses.

To test the effectiveness of massage, the veterans in the study were divided into 3 groups. 203 of them were given routine care which includes pain medication. 200 received a daily 20-minute back massage in addition to pain medication. The other 202 got pain medication plus 20 minutes of individual attention from a massage therapist without getting a massage. This last group was to test the effect of emotional support without massage. Each day the patients were asked to rate the intensity of their pain and to rate their anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

The patients who experienced the shortest term decrease in pain and anxiety were the ones in the massage group. They also experienced a faster rate of decrease of pain and anxiety over the first 4 days following surgery.

The authors say the results suggest that massage may be reducing suffering in 2 ways. First by relieving anxiety, which goes hand in hand with pain to create, distress. Second, it could also be generating mood-boosting endorphins that help block pain.

They conclude, “With the recent emphasis on assessing pain as the fifth vital sign tempered by renewed concerns for patient safety, it is time to reintegrate the use of effective and less dangerous approaches to relieve patient distress.”

SOURCE: JAMA Archives of Surgery, December 2007
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