Assessment of the effect of aromatherapy with lavender and chamomile essential oils on postadenotonsillectomy pain in paediatric patients: double blind, randomised clinical trial

Abstract

IntroductionPain is the major postoperative complication in paediatric patients underwent an adenotonsillectomy surgery that might increase morbidity in these patients. The objective of the present study was the assessment of the effect of aromatherapy with lavender and chamomile essential oils as a noninvasive method on postadenotonsillectomy pain in paediatric patients. MethodsIn this randomised, double-blinded clinical trial 144 patients were included and equally allocated to four groups (36 patients in each group). After adenotonsillectomy surgery, all patients received acetaminophen (10–15 mg/kg/dose, orally) every 6 hours to relieve pain. The patients of groups A, B, C, and D also inhaled lavender essential oil 1%, chamomile essential oil 1%, a combination of lavender and chamomile essential oil 1%, and distilled water along with acetaminophen. The pain intensity was assessed by a visual analogue scale. Also, the frequency of daily use of acetaminophen was recorded for each patient for 3 days after surgery. Finally, the mean values of variables were compared statistically using SPSS 16.0 software. ResultsOur results showed that aromatherapy with lavender and chamomile essential oils reduced the pain intensity, but the difference between study groups was not statistically significant. Furthermore, aromatherapy could significantly reduce the frequency of daily use of acetaminophen. Discussion/ConclusionsAromatherapy is considered a useful, noninvasive, alternative method to reduce the number of required analgesics and pain intensity after adenotonsillectomy surgery.