Abstract
Chest tube causes severe pain during removal because it attaches to the endothelium in the chest cavity. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of cold application with ice pack and gel pad in the control of pain experienced during chest tube removal. The sample of prospective, parallel three-arm (1:1:1), randomized controlled clinical trial consisted of 180 patients in two experimental groups (ice pack/gel pad) and one control group. The primary outcome was effect of cold application materials on severity of pain during chest removal. Secondary outcomes were duration of cold application and analgesic requirements of the patients. The study found that the cold application using either of the materials reduced the severity of pain and the need for analgesics after the removal of chest tube compared to the control group (p<0.05). But cold application with ice pack allowed the skin to drop to the temperature effective in pain control in a shorter time than gel pad application (p<0.05). Despite entirely covering the area around the chest tube, the gel pad was more disadvantageous than ice pack in pain control due to the longer duration of cold application.
Highlights
Chest tube used in the treatment of acute or chronic problems caused by thoracic surgery or trauma allows the air and fluid to be drained from the pleural space.[1]
The severity of pain after the procedure of patients who received cold application before chest tube removal was measured with Visual Analog Scale/ Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) at different times, such as 5 and 15 minutes after the procedure, and it was shown that cold application was effective in pain control and reduced pain over time.[2,3,4,11]
The results of this study showed that cold application with both materials decreased the pain severity and the need for analgesia after chest tube removal compared to the control group, but cold application with ice pack allowed the skin to drop to the temperature effective in pain control in a shorter time than gel pad application
Summary
Chest tube used in the treatment of acute or chronic problems caused by thoracic surgery or trauma allows the air and fluid to be drained from the pleural space.[1]. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of cold application with ice pack and gel pad in the control of pain experienced during chest tube removal. The primary outcome was effect of cold application materials on severity of pain during chest removal. Results: The study found that the cold application using either of the materials reduced the severity of pain and the need for analgesics after the removal of chest tube compared to the control group (p
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