The effect of abdominal massage on some parameters in geriatric patients fed by nasogastric tube in intensive care unit

THE EFFECT OF ABDOMINAL MASSAGE ON SOME PARAMETERS IN GERIATRIC PATIENTS FED BY NASOGASTRIC TUBE IN INTENSIVE CARE UNIT Onur ÇETİNKAYA Postgraduate Thesis, Department of Nursing Master of Internal Medicine Nursing Thesis Advisor Assoc. Dr. Özlem OVAYOLU May 2018, 57 page This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of abdominal massage on some parameters in geriatric patients hospitalized in intensive care unit and fed by nasogastric tube. All necessary permissions were obtained before starting the study. The patients, who met the inclusion criteria of the study, were divided into the intervention group (n=30) and control group (n=30). They began feeding with the amount determined by the nutrition team. Food tolerance was determined as follows: the stomach content aspirated as a result of the measurement of gastric residual volume (GRV) being less than half of the amount of food given to the patient in the previous meal and reaching the target calorie values determined by the dietitian. Before each meal, the GRV, abdominal circumference measurement and the abdominal examination were performed in the patients in both groups and the patients were evaluated for distention, vomiting, and defecation. Abdominal massage was applied to the patients in the intervention group for 15-20 minutes, 2 times daily (between 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.) before each meal. The patients were monitored for a total of 6 days, including the next three days after food tolerance developed. The data of the study were collected by using a questionnaire and the GRV follow-up form. The Shapiro-Wilk test, Student's t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, Wilcoxon test, Chi-square test, McNemar's test, and Kappa test were used in the statistical evaluation of the data. When the patients were compared for their first-day and sixth-day follow-ups, it was determined that defecation occurred at the end of follow-up in 81.5% of the patients in the intervention group, and none of the patients had distention, vomiting, or increased GRV (p<0.05). In the control group, there was a significant increase in GRV on day 6, and 29.6% of the patients had distention. In addition, defecation occurred only in 33.3% of the patients.It was observed that the abdominal massage decreased the excessive GRV and the incidence of distention and increased the defecation frequency. Keywords: Abdominal massage, geriatrics, nasogastric tube, intensive care, nursing