To assess the effects of P6 and LI4 acupressure on post-caesarean pain and analgesic consumption.
This was a randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled study conducted in a university-affiliated obstetrics clinic between July 2017 and July 2018.
Women (n=132) were randomly assigned to acupressure (n=44), placebo (n=44), and control (n=44) groups.
All groups received routine nursing care and analgesia protocol for post-cesarean pain. Acupressure was performed in two sessions, the postpartum second and fourth hours, with the following protocol: bilaterally to P6 (point on wrist) and LI4 (point on hand) points (for three minutes on each point). In the placebo group, it was just touched without the pressure on acupressure points, but the main difference was that touching was too superficial to have a therapeutic effect. The control group received only routine nursing care and analgesia protocol for post-cesarean pain.
The post-caesarean pain was evaluated four times before and after each session using Visual Analog Scale for pain. Also, the analgesia protocol for post-cesarean pain was recorded for all women.
The acupressure group experienced the lowest level of post-cesarean pain compared to the placebo and control groups (p = 0.000). The consumption of pethidine hydrochloride and paracetamol was statistically lower in the acupressure group compared to the placebo and control groups (respectively p = 0.002 and p = 0.040).
Acupressure is an effective method for reducing post-cesarean pain and analgesic consumption. Clinical trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04337801.