Effects of mindfulness relaxation training on stress response and postoperative rehabilitation of patients undergoing general surgery

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effects of mindfulness relaxation training on stress response and postoperative rehabilitation of patients undergoing general surgery. Methods A total of 110 patients who underwent general surgery were randomly divided into study group and control group, with 55 cases in each group. The control group received routine peri-operational period nursing, and the study group carried out mindfulness relaxation training on the basis of control group for 4 weeks. The levels changes of serum insulin, cortisol were detected between two groups. The psychological stress of two groups were evaluated with Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90). The off-bed activity time, anus exhaust time, bowel sounds recovery time and hospital stay time were recorded to evaluate the quality of patients′ postoperative rehabilitation. Results The levels of insulin, cortisol were at minimum on admission in two groups, and then increased, the highest level was at 2 hours after operation. There was no significant difference in insulin, cortisol level on admission in two groups (P>0.05), however, the insulin [(120.15±22.63) μg/L, (122.34±15.75) μg/L], cortisol [(10.41±3.07) mmol/L, (12.69±4.50) mmol/L] levels were significantly decreased in the study group compared to the control group [(129.85±15.43) μg/L, (131.34±22.79) μg/L and (11.69±2.99) mmol/L, (14.84±4.04) mmol/L] before anesthesia and at 2 hours after operation (t value was 2.206-2.638, P<0.05). After intervention, the total scores of SCL-90 (120.91±11.84), somatization (1.26±0.13), compulsion (1.43±0.08), depression (1.18±0.12), anxiety (1.14±0.10) and fear (1.34±0.08) were all lower in the study group than those in the control group (130.47±14.13, 1.83±0.53, 1.65±0.58, 1.71±0.12, 1.76±0.13, 1.41±0.12), and the differences were statistically significant (t value was 2.828-28.277, all P<0.05). Besides, off-bed activity time [(1.55±0.18) d] and hospital stay time[ (6.51±2.20) d] in the study group were significantly less than in the control group [(1.73±0.25) d and (7.65±2.19 d)] (t value was 2.737,4.592, P<0.05). Conclusion The mindfulness relaxation training in nursing general surgery patients during peri-operational period is helpful to ameliorate the patients′ degree of physiological and psychological stress reactions, and this mode has important significance in promoting the quality of patients' postoperative rehabilitation. Key words: Mindfulness relaxation training; Surgery; Physiological stress reaction; Psychological stress reaction