Korean J Child Health Nurs.  2002 Oct;8(4):400-413.

The Effects of Informational Intervention on Postoperative Pain following Tonsillectomy in Children

• Kim YH
• Lee HZ

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of informational intervention on postoperative pain following tonsillectomy in children. This study was performed on 30 children, aged 5-15 years, undergoing tonsillectomy and their parents by providing informational intervention with colored figure; operation procedure and information. Pain assessment was done by Pain Questionnaire. The results from this study were as follows : 1. Children in experimental group with mean 16.07 had lower pain scores than control group with mean 14.87 at 4th hours after operation(p < 0.05). It showed "significant difference" and first hypothesis was adopted. 2. Children in experimental group with mean 20.60 had lower pain scores than control group with mean 17.27 at 8th hours after operation(p < 0.05). It showed "significant difference" and second hypothesis was adopted. 3. Children in experimental group with mean 28.80 had lower pain scores than control group with mean 25.70 at 24th hours after operation(p < 0.05). It showed "significant difference" and third hypothesis was adopted. 4. When we analyzed the time difference and difference between two groups simultaneously by repeated measure ANOVA, the significant difference was not found. And so "the experiential group with operation-related information will show the lower pain sense than the control group just as the time flows after operation", fourth hypothesis was rejected. Generally, it was found that providing information about operation to children and their parents reduced effectively postoperative pain in children, but in clinical settings there are minimum preoperative information-providing because of insufficient time and inconvenience although nursing staffs and patients know its needs. Conclusionally providing preoperative information should help children and their parents cope with Pre, Peri and Post operative events effectively.

MeSH Terms

Adenoidectomy
Analysis of Variance
Child*
Humans
Methods
Nursing Staff
Pain Measurement
Pain, Postoperative*
Parents
Tonsillectomy*
Child Health