The effect of shoulder massage on shoulder pain and sleep quality in patients after laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a randomized controlled trial

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy patients may suffer from sleep disturbances due to this postoperative pain. Postoperative pain and low sleep quality can lead to various unpredictable complications, including anxiety.The aim of this study is to determine the effect of shoulder massage administered to patients after laparoscopic cholecystectomy on pain and sleep quality.

The study was designed as a randomized controlled trial.This study was carried out with 60 patients who underwent surgery at the General Surgery Department of a university’s Faculty of Medicine between January 2020 and March 2021. The study was completed with 60 patients (30 in the intervention group and 30 in the control group). The patients in the intervention group received shoulder massage twice at 6-hour intervals. The data for the study were collected using the “Individual Introduction Form”, the “VAS”, and the “Richard Campbell Sleep Scale”.

It was found that the pain of the patients in the intervention group significantly decreased compared to the control group 30 min after the massage (p˂0.05). However, 6 h after the massage, the pain levels in both groups were similar. The sleep quality of the patients in the intervention group was significantly higher compared to those in the control group (p˂0.05).

It was determined that the massage therapy yielded a short-term alleviation of shoulder pain among the patients while also enhancing their sleep quality. These results suggest that shoulder massage could be effectively incorporated into nursing practice as a means to ameliorate pain levels and enhance sleep quality in postoperative patients.

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT06480149 (retrospectively registered, Protocol ID: 2019/06-8Last Update Posted 2024-06-28) https://ctv.veeva.com/study/shoulder-massage-after-cholecystectomy.