Findings from a small controlled clinical study published online in the BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care journal show that the use of essential peppermint oil aromatherapy reduces the severity of pain after open-heart surgery and improves sleep. quality may also improve.
Cardiac surgery is a major procedure that requires separation of the sternum (breastbone) and mechanical breathing support, both of which carry a high risk of causing severe pain, stress and insomnia, researchers note. there is
Effective pain relief may speed patient recovery and reduce the risk of postoperative complications, the researchers added. However, both the pain itself and the drugs used to treat it can prolong the time needed on a ventilator, increasing postoperative complications, death, length of hospital stay, and medical costs.
Drug substitutes may offer safer options or simply make existing pain relievers more effective, the researchers suggest.
Aromatherapy may be one such alternative, but its effectiveness is unknown. Previously published research has shown that inhaling essential oils may help, and peppermint essential oil is already widely used in palliative care.
Researchers therefore wanted to investigate the potential of peppermint essential oil to reduce pain and improve sleep quality in patients following open-heart surgery.
Therefore, 64 adults were randomly assigned to treatment with either 0.1 ml of 10% peppermint essential oil or 10 ml of distilled water administered 30 minutes before the breathing tube was removed, and then on the second night after the procedure. It was to be administered 3 times a day, 7 times with a nebulizer. In all.
Both groups were similar in terms of sex, age and weight. type of surgery; time under general anesthesia (hours); length of intubation. Amount of analgesic given. Time spent on mechanical respiratory support.
The Numerical Pain Rating Scale and the St. Mary’s Hospital Sleep Questionnaire were used to assess changes in pain severity and sleep quality, respectively. The final analysis included 59 patients, 30 in the aromatherapy group and 29 in the comparison group.
After two days, the average pain severity score was 3.22 in the aromatherapy group and 4.56 in the comparison group, a statistically significant difference, the researchers said.
Mean sleep scores on day 1 were 20.10 and 25.76 in the aromatherapy and comparison groups, respectively, but decreased to 18.63 and 22.62, respectively, on day 2, with a statistically significant difference between the two groups. there was. The higher the score, the worse the quality of sleep.
Patients who received peppermint oil aromatherapy required less pharmacological analgesics than patients in the comparison group.
As an explanation for their findings, the researchers suggest that the main constituents of peppermint oil, carvone, limonene and menthol, may be key to its analgesic effects, especially menthol.
They also point to previously published studies that confirmed the relaxing and soothing effects of peppermint essential oil. Since patients experience high levels of postoperative stress and pain after waking up in the intensive care unit after heart surgery, reducing these factors should improve sleep quality, the researchers suggest. ing.
This was a small study and the researchers could not rule out the possible environmental impact of light and noise on the sleep quality of patients, which may have influenced the scores obtained. Admit it.
However, the researchers said, “results show that inhaling peppermint essential oil may reduce the intensity of pain in patients following open-heart surgery, which may in turn reduce the patient’s use of pain relievers.” There are,” he concludes.
“The use of this herbal product also improves the quality of sleep in patients on the first night after surgery, leading to a more comfortable life.” Considering this, we can conclude that this herbal product can be safely used as a complementary treatment to relieve pain and comfort for patients after cardiac surgery.”
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