Research article

FOUR-SQUARE BREATHING EXERCISES EFFECTIVENESS ON POST-OPERATIVE PAIN AND SATISFACTION AMONG PATIENTS UNDERGOING ABDOMINAL SURGERY

Amany Gamal El gharieb El berdan, Ishraga A. Ibrahim Mohamed, Doaa Lotfi Afifi Alqersh, Marwa A. Shahin, Alaa M Hassanein

Online First: March 8, 2023


abdominal surgery is a trans-abdominal incision. Persistent postoperative pain is a well-known consequence of this surgery. Aim of the study: To determine the four-square breathing exercises effectiveness on postoperative pain and satisfaction among patients undergoing abdominal surgery. Design: A quasi-experimental research design was utilized. Setting: The study was conducted in the surgical adult department affiliated فخPort Said Hospital. Subject: Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used to select a sample of 100 post-abdominal surgery patients who were randomly assigned into two groups, 50 for each of the experimental and control groups. Three tools were used: (I) a structured interview questionnaire, (II) Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), and (III) Satisfaction Likert Scale. Results: This study revealed that during the pretest, patients who had undergone abdominal surgery in the experimental and control groups, respectively, experienced moderate levels of pain (82% and 79%). However, all 100 post-abdominal surgery patients in the experimental group experienced minor pain during the post-test, compared to 50% of the patients in the control group. The study revealed that there was a difference between mean pretest and post-test scores that were found statistically significant at p < 0.05 level in the study group regarding pain level. In addition, most of the study group (96.4%) was completely satisfied with the intervention. Conclusion: This study concluded that four-square breathing exercises significantly reduced pain intensity and enhanced satisfaction among abdominal surgery patients with the intervention. Recommendations: Four square breathing exercises should be incorporated into the nursing intervention protocols for post-abdominal surgery patients.

Keywords

Four-Square Breathing Exercises, Post-operative pain, Post abdominal surgery patients.