Effect of lavender oil aromatherapy on postoperative pain, anxiety and physiological parameters in thoracic surgery patients

The research was conducted as an experimental study to determine the effect of lavender oil aromatherapy on pain, anxiety and physiological parameters after thoracic surgery. The study was carried out with 90 patients in the Thoracic Surgery-Cardiovascular Surgery Intensive Care Unit of Karadeniz Technical University Farabi Hospital. During the data collection phase, the Patient Information Form, Visual Comparison Scale (VAS), State Anxiety Scale, Patient Follow-up Monitor and Experimental and Control Group Follow-up Form were used. On the first and second days after surgery, patients in the experimental group were smelled lavender oil by dropping it into the scent apparatus for two minutes, and patients in the control group were smelled distilled water. Pain, anxiety scores, heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate and oxygen O2 saturation of all patients were measured before the application and at the 5th and 15th minutes after the application. Number, percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test in independent groups and ANOVA were used to evaluate the data. In the study, it was found that the average pain score and respiratory rate average of the experimental group patients decreased significantly after aromatherapy and the saturation value increased significantly (p<0.05). In the experimental group, a positive, significant and moderate relationship was found between pain and heart rate and systolic blood pressure on the first and second day measurements. The results obtained from the study show that lavender oil aromatherapy can be among nursing practices as an effective method for reducing pain after thoracic surgery.