Yang HL, Liu FC, Tsay PK, Chou AH, Lin CC, Yu HP, Jao HC, Liu HE. Use of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation to Alleviate Thirst After Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
J Perianesth Nurs 2023;
38:291-296. [PMID:
36464571 DOI:
10.1016/j.jopan.2022.07.010]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2022] [Revised: 07/16/2022] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE
This prospective study investigated the preventive effect of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) for postoperative thirst.
DESIGN
This experimental study was conducted with the CONSORT checklist.
METHODS
A total of 105 surgical patients who received general anesthesia were recruited from a medical center. Each patient was randomly assigned to the experimental group (n = 53; 20 min of TENS) or the control group (n = 52; routine care). In each group, oral moisture wetness was measured at 1 min, 20 min, and 50 min post-surgery. Descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-square test, t test, one-way ANOVA, and generalized estimating equation (GEE) regression analysis) were performed to assess the proposed relationships.
FINDINGS
The two groups showed similar characteristics at baseline. The oral moisture wetness was significantly higher in the experimental group than the control group at each post-surgery assessment time (all P < .001). The GEE results showed that patients in the experimental group reported more oral moisture wetness than patients in the control group.
CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrated that TENS can reduce thirst reported by patients after general anesthesia. Thus, this method may have clinical applications for managing postoperative thirst.
Collapse