Effect of Swedish Hand Massage on Pain in Patients Undergoing CABG Surgery

Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) surgery is performed commonly today. Heart surgery performed on more than two million individuals every year leads patients experience severe postoperative pain for causes such as cutting of intercostal nerves along the incision line, pleural irritation caused by thoracic catheters etc. Hand massage, which is one of the non-pharmacological methods, is an effective procedure that can be applied independently by nurses for pain management. The objective of this randomized controlled study is to investigate the effect of hand massage applied to the patients with CABG surgery during the postoperative intensive care process, on pain.