Effect of oral ice tablets on thirst feeling in postoperative patients

This study was conducted at the Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation at Trakya University to determine the effect of oral ice cubes administered in the early postoperative period on the feeling of thirst and dry mouth after surgery in patients undergoing orthopedic surgery. 100 patients between the ages of 18-85 were included in the study. Patients were randomly selected into 2 groups of 50 patients each as the Control Group and the Study Group. Patients with mental insufficiency, those who had previously undergone surgery in the mouth and oral cavity or those with anomalies were excluded from the study. The patients preoperative demographic information, age, gender, ASA, additional diseases, body mass indexes, preoperative hospital stay, preoperative fasting periods, and the amount of fluid given during the preoperative fasting period were recorded in the preoperative preparation room by obtaining information from the patient files and the patients themselves. While the patients were being taken to the operation, their preoperative body temperatures were measured with an electronic thermometer and recorded. In the postoperative period, the type of anesthesia, surgical operation, duration of anesthesia, duration of surgery, total fasting time at the end of the surgery, intraoperative fluids, amount of urine removed intraoperatively, and intraoperative medications were recorded from the Anesthesia Card. Postoperative body temperatures were recorded as soon as the patients arrived at the recovery unit. Patients with a Modified Aldrate Score >9 were considered to have recovered. And these values were found to be similar in both groups. The patients in the study group were asked to hold 3cm3 plastic ice cubes, freshly taken from the freezer in the refrigerator, in their mouths for 60 minutes. No procedure was performed on the patients in the control group. All patients were asked to indicate the severity of their thirst and dry mouth at the 0th, 15th, 30th, 45th, and 60th minutes on a horizontal line with numerical values between 0-10. It was found that there was a moderate positive significant relationship between age and Sensation of Thirst, but no relationship between Dry Mouth, thirst sensation scores were higher in women than in men at the 15th and 30th minutes, there was a moderate positive significant relationship between preoperative fasting and fasting period from the beginning to recovery in the control group and Thirst Sensation Score at all times, and only at the 60th minute in the study group, and there was a significant decrease in Dry Mouth Sensation Scores at the 30th and 45th minutes compared to the 0th minute in the control group, and at all times in the study group compared to the 0th minute. As a result; It was observed that preoperative waiting periods were significantly related to thirst and dry mouth, and the oral ice cubes we applied postoperatively not only relieved the thirst of the patients, but also reduced the feeling of dry mouth by causing an increase in secretions in the patients.