Reflexology is a type of massage that involves applying different amounts of pressure to the feet, hands, and ears. It is based on a theory that, these body parts are connected to certain organs and body systems. Aim: The study was aimed to evaluate the effect of reflexology on post-operative pain severity after laparoscopic appendectomy for patients at surgical units. Methods: A quasi-experimental research design was utilized to conduct this study in the general surgery department at Benha University Hospital. A purposive sample of (60) adult patients post laparoscopic appedectomy were included in this study. Three tools were used; (Tool I) patients’ knowledge assessment questionnaire, (Tool II) patients’ practice observational checklist and (Tool III) visual pain analogue scale to assess pain severity. Results: This study showed that most patients (study group) had an unsatisfactory level of total knowledge and inadequate total practice regarding reflexology technique after laparoscopic appendectomy pre intervention (22% and 2%). This result improved significantly regarding all knowledge and practice elements post intervention, where the majority of patients (study group) had satisfactory level of total knowledge and adequate total practice (82% and 95%). Also, there was marked improvement in pain severity among the study group pre and post intervention.While, there was no improvement noticed in the control group regarding their total knowledge, practice, and pain severity pre and post intervention.Conclusion: The current study concluded that, performance of the study group post intervention concerning pain severity has been greatly improved after application of reflexology technique that supports the first and second research hypotheses. Also, there was a significant negative correlation between patients’ performance and pain severity immediate post intervention for the study group that supports the third research hypothesis. The study recommended continuous in-service training programs and repeating the study on a high probability sample to achieve generalization of the findings. |
