The effect of knesio taping and breathing exercise methods applied after benign gynecological abdominal operation on pain management: A randomized controlled study

Benign gynecological abdominal surgical operations affect women in psychological, physiological and socio-economic aspects, and after these operations, women usually experience pain, anxiety, infection, and dissatisfaction, which may adversely affect their recovery. This study was carried out as a randomized controlled study to evaluate the effect of Kinesio taping and breathing exercises on pain management applied after benign gynecological abdominal operations. The sampling size was calculated with G*Power Ver.3.1.9.2 computer software. The women were assigned to the groups randomly. A total of 132 women, 33 of whom were in kinesio taping group, 33 in breathing exercise group, 33 in kinesio taping and breathing exercise group, and 33 in the control group, who matched the sampling selection criteria, were included in the study. The research was conducted between June 2017 and June 2018 at Dr. Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital. The data of the study were collected using a personal information form, a postoperative follow-up and discharge risk assessment form, and the Visual Analog Scale. In the study, numbers, percentages, and chi-square tests; mean, median, "independent sample t test", "Mann Whitney U test", "paired t-test, "two-way mixed ANOVA", "Kruskal-Wallis variance analysis test" and single and multivariate regression analyses for continuous variables were used. According to the research findings, at the end of the 3rd postoperative day, there was a 64.2 ± 7.2% decrease in the pain level of women in the control group. At the end of the 3rd postoperative day, the rate of decrease in pain level was 75.1 ± 6.5% in the kinesio taping group and 60.8 ± 82.2% in the breathing exercise group. On the other hand, the rate of decrease in the pain level in kinesio taping and breathing exercise group was 69.6 ± 9.2%. The rate of change in pain level in all groups showed a statistically significant difference (p <0.05). The level of women's pain in kinesio taping group was found to reduce by a higher rate (p <0.05). There was also a statistically significant difference in terms of the gas-stool excretion time and wound healing in groups applying kinesio taping compared to the control and breathing exercise groups (p <0.05). In conclusion, the kinesio taping method applied in pain management, reduction of gas-stool excretion time, and wound healing after benign gynecological abdominal operations is the most effective non-pharmacological method. Therefore, according to the results of our study, kinesio taping may contribute to the nursing field in terms of the management of pain, shortening of the excretion time of gas-stool and accelerating wound healing after benign gynecological abdominal operations and is suggested as a safe non-pharmacological method in these areas. Keywords: Benign gynecological changes, postoperative pain, kinesio taping, breathing exercise, nursing.