The Effect of Foot Reflexology Massage on Pain in Patients Undergoing Tibia Plaque Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial Study

Introduction: One of the major problems of patients after orthopedic surgeries is acute pain. Therefore, the present study was conducted  to evaluate the effect of foot reflexology massage on pain in patients undergoing tibia plaque surgery. Method: The current study is a randomized clinical trial study in which 96 patients who were candidates for tibia plaque surgery referred to Imam Ali Hospital in Bojnourd were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. In the experimental group, foot reflexology massage was performed on patientschr('39') healthy feet for ten minutes one hour before surgery. In the control group, the researcher lubricated the patientchr('39')s foot for one minute using only Baby Oil, which has no therapeutic value, to eliminate the touch effect alone. The researcher stayed with the patient for 10 minutes to eliminate the effect of the intervention. Patientschr('39') pain intensity using the standard Visual analog scale before the intervention, immediately after the intervention and at 2, 4, 6, 12 and 24 hours after surgery was measured. Chi-square tests for qualitative variables and  T-test and Repeated Measure for quantitative variables or their Non-parametric equivalent tests like Man-witney and Friedman were used to compare the findings. Results: This study showed that the baseline pain scores in the experimental and control groups were 8.1±  0.9 and 8.4 ± 0.9, respectively. After the intervention, the pain score in the experimental group was 6.9±1.1 and in the control group was 8.1±1 (P <0.001). At other times, up to 24 hours after surgery, the pain reduction was lower than the control group (P <.05).  Conclusion: Foot reflexology massage reduces pain of patients undergoing tibia plaque surgery. Therefore, this method can be used to reduce pain and anxiety in orthopedic surgery patients.