The Effect of Acupressure Applied Before Suturing Procedure in the Emergency Department on Anxiety and Vital Signs

This study suggests that the anxiety experienced by patients during suturing in the emergency department can be reduced with acupressure and offers a research proposal on vital signs.

Problem: During suturing in the emergency department, patients experience high levels of anxiety due to the pain they experience and fear of the procedure. This situation complicates the treatment process, negatively affects the health of patients and creates a difficult situation for healthcare professionals.

Solution Suggestion: Acupressure can be used as a non-invasive, safe and effective method to reduce patients' anxiety. Acupressure reduces pain, provides relaxation and reduces anxiety by increasing the secretion of endorphins in the body.

Purpose of the Study: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of applying acupressure to patients before suturing in the emergency department on their anxiety levels and vital signs (such as blood pressure, heart rate).

In summary, this research has a significant potential that emergency room nurses can improve patients' quality of life and make treatment processes more effective by using acupressure in patient care.

Key Words: Acupressure, Suturing, Anxiety, Vital Signs, Emergency Department

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Anxiety; Vital Signs
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Acupressure; Other: Acupressure

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 146
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Ezgi Bolat, Master; Phone Number: +90-538-055-8567; Email: ezgibolat35@gmail.com

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Suturing is done with local anesthesia,
• Those who are 18 years or older,
• Conscious, oriented and cooperative,
• Able to read and understand Turkish,
• Agreeing to participate in the study,
• Anxiety not diagnosed,
• Not using medication for anxiety,
• No acupressure experience,
• No physical problems that would prevent acupressure application to Ht7 and Li4 points,
• Not pregnant,
• Patients who sign the "Voluntary Informed Consent Form" will be included.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Those who are under 18 years of age,
• Unconscious, unoriented and uncooperative,
• Cannot read and understand Turkish,
• Those who do not agree to participate in the study,
• -Diagnosed with anxiety,
• -Using medication for anxiety (anxiolytic, antidepressant, antipsychotic, etc.),
• Having previous acupressure experience,
• Having a physical problem that prevents the application of acupressure to Ht7 and Li4 points,
• Pregnant,
• Patients who do not sign the "Voluntary Informed Consent Form" will not be included.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Acupressure group; Acupressure will be applied to the experimental group before suturing.	Other: Acupressure; Before pressing directly on the point for acupressure, a gentle warming, relaxing and preparatory process of approximately 15 seconds should be performed on the point area. In this case, manual pressure with the thumb, index finger and/or middle finger will be applied sequentially (in the rhythm of breathing) without lifting the finger for an average of 1.5 minutes on each point, at a frequency that does not disturb the person, does not cause pain and has a calming effect. Before the suturing procedure, acupressure will be applied to the HT7 and Li4 points by a researcher (EB) who has an acupressure certificate.; Other: Acupressure; Before and after acupressure, vital signs and before acupressure, anxiety scores will be checked using the Spielger State Anxiety Scale. In addition, vital signs and anxiety scores will be checked again immediately after the stitching procedure.; Other Names: Acupressure Group
No Intervention: control group; No intervention will be made to the control group. Routine emergency room practice will be carried out.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Evaluation of anxiety before acupressure	Before the suturing procedure, acupressure will be applied to the Ht7 and Li4 points.The state anxiety scale consists of 20 questions. The statements in the SAS are evaluated as none 1 point, a little 2 points, a lot 3 points and completely 4 points. In this section, the statements are divided into direct and reversed. Reversed statements are: items 1, 2, 5, 8, 10, 11, 15, 16, 19, and 20. The SAS score is calculated by adding the constant value of 50 to the value obtained by subtracting the total score of the reversed statements from the total score of the direct statements. The scale score varies between 20-80 and an increase in the score obtained from the scale indicates an increase in the anxiety level. A total score of 0-19 from the SAS indicates no anxiety, a score of 20-39 indicates mild anxiety, a score of 40-59 indicates moderate anxiety and a score of 60-79 indicates a severe anxiety level. It is stated that individuals who score above 60 on the SAS need professional help.	before suturing
Evaluation of anxiety after suturing	Immediately after the stitching, the anxiety scale will be filled out again. The statements in the SAS are evaluated as none 1 point, a little 2 points, a lot 3 points and completely 4 points. In this section, the statements are divided into direct and reversed. Reversed statements are: items 1, 2, 5, 8, 10, 11, 15, 16, 19, and 20. The SAS score is calculated by adding the constant value of 50 to the value obtained by subtracting the total score of the reversed statements from the total score of the direct statements. The scale score varies between 20-80 and an increase in the score obtained from the scale indicates an increase in the anxiety level. A total score of 0-19 from the SAS indicates no anxiety, a score of 20-39 indicates mild anxiety, a score of 40-59 indicates moderate anxiety and a score of 60-79 indicates a severe anxiety level. It is stated that individuals who score above 60 on the DAS need professional help.	immediately after suturing

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Assessment of blood pressure before acupressure	Vital signs will be monitored immediately before acupressure. The patient's blood pressure will be monitored before acupressure. The patients' blood pressure will be monitored on a portable monitor (iMEC 10, Mindray, Chinese). Systolic blood pressure of 100-130 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure of 60-80 mmHg. Normal blood pressure is usually considered to be between 90/60 mmHg and 120/80 mmHg.	Just before acupressure
Assessment of Blood Pressure After Acupressure	Vital signs will be monitored immediately after acupressure. The patient's blood pressure will be monitored after acupressure. The patients' blood pressure will be monitored on a portable monitor (iMEC 10, Mindray, Chinese). Systolic blood pressure of 100-130 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure of 60-80 mmHg. Normal blood pressure is usually considered to be between 90/60 mmHg and 120/80 mmHg.	After acupressure
Assesment of blood pressure after suturing	Vital signs will be monitored immediately after suturing. The patient's blood pressure will be monitored after suturing. The patients' blood pressure will be monitored on a portable monitor (iMEC 10, Mindray, Chinese). Systolic blood pressure of 100-130 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure of 60-80 mmHg. Normal blood pressure is usually considered to be between 90/60 mmHg and 120/80 mmHg.	after suturing
Assesment of heart rate before acupressure	Vital signs will be monitored immediately before acupressure. The patient's heart rate will be monitored before acupressure. The patient's heart rate will be monitored on a portable monitor (iMEC 10, Mindray, Chinese). A normal heart rate for adults ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute.	before acupressure
Assesment of heart rate after acupressure	Vital signs will be monitored immediately after acupressure. The patient's heart rate will be monitored after acupressure. The patient's heart rate will be monitored on a portable monitor (iMEC 10, Mindray, Chinese). A normal heart rate for adults ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute.	after acupressure
Assesment of heart rate after suturing	Vital signs will be monitored immediately after suturing. The patient's heart rate will be monitored after suturing. The patient's heart rate will be monitored on a portable monitor (iMEC 10, Mindray, Chinese). A normal heart rate for adults ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute.	after suturing
Assesment of oxygen saturation before acupressure	Vital signs will be monitored immediately before acupressure. The patient's heart rate will be monitored before acupressure. The patient's heart rate will be monitored on a portable monitor (iMEC 10, Mindray, Chinese). For most people, a normal pulse oximeter reading for your oxygen saturation level is between 95% and 100%.	before acupressure
Assesment of oxygen saturation after acupressure	Vital signs will be monitored immediately after acupressure. The patient's heart rate will be monitored after acupressure. The patient's heart rate will be monitored on a portable monitor (iMEC 10, Mindray, Chinese). For most people, a normal pulse oximeter reading for your oxygen saturation level is between 95% and 100%.	after acupressure
Assesment of oxygen saturation after suturing	vVital signs will be monitored immediately after suturing. The patient's heart rate will be monitored after suturing. The patient's heart rate will be monitored on a portable monitor (iMEC 10, Mindray, Chinese). For most people, a normal pulse oximeter reading for your oxygen saturation level is between 95% and 100%.	after suturing
Assesment of respiratory rate before acupressure	Immediately before acupressure, the respiratory rate will be assessed. The respiratory rate will be counted by observing the chest cage movements for one minute by the researcher (EB). Vital signs are expected to remain within normal values. Normal respiration rates for an adult person range from 16 to 20 breaths per minute.	before acupressure
Assesment of respiratory rate after acupressure	Immediately after acupressure, After suturing, the respiratory rate will be assessed. The respiratory rate will be counted by observing the chest cage movements for one minute by the researcher (EB). Vital signs are expected to remain within normal values. Normal respiration rates for an adult person range from 16 to 20 breaths per minute.	after acupressure
Assesment of respiratory rate after suturing	After suturing, the respiratory rate will be assessed. The respiratory rate will be counted by observing the chest cage movements for one minute by the researcher (EB). Vital signs are expected to remain within normal values. Normal respiration rates for an adult person range from 16 to 20 breaths per minute.	after suturing

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Ezgi BOLAT

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): October 1, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 1, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): April 30, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 1, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 10, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): October 15, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 15, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 10, 2024
• Last Verified: October 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Acupressure, Suturing, Anxiety, Vital Signs, Emergency Department
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Pathologic Processes; Disease Attributes; Emergencies; Anxiety Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: MU-EBOLAT-804

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No