EFFECTS OF CRYOTHERAPY ON PAIN, PRIOR TO THE INTRAVENOUS ADMINISTRATION OF CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC AGENTS AMONG CANCER PATIENTS

Abstract

Background and objectives: Cancer is a disease of the cell in which the normal mechanisms of the control of growth and proliferation have been altered. Multiple treatment modalities including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery and biologic response modifier therapy may be used at various times. Pain is one of the most common symptoms in cancer patients. Pain can be caused by cancer, cancer treatment, or a combination of factors. The study was done to identify the effects of cryotherapy on pain prior to the intravenous administration of chemotherapeutic agents among cancer patients in a selected hospital at Coimbatore. Materials and methods: Quantitative research approach was used to assess the effects of cryotherapy on pain. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 30 samples. The research design used for this study was pre-experimental one group pre-test― post-test design. Cryotherapy was given for the duration of 5 -10 minutes prior to the intravenous administration of chemotherapeutic agents to cancer patients. Numerical rating scale was used to assess the pain before and after the intervention. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data from 30 samples. Results: The analysis revealed that the pre-test mean score of pain was 6.00 with standard deviation of 1.74 and in post-test the mean score was 2.43 with standard deviation of 1.85. The paired ‘t’ test value of 17.690 was very highly significant at p<0.001 level. Conclusion: Results indicated that cryotherapy is effective on pain, prior to the intravenous administration of chemotherapeutic agents among patients with cancer. However, the study can be conducted by using large populations to generalise the findings.