Impact of Foot Reflexology on Nausea After Obesity Surgery (IRANNO)

April 1, 2026 updated by: Centre Hospitalier Departemental Vendee

Obesity is a major public health issue. The Obépi epidemiological survey, the results of which were published in 2020, shows a steady increase in obesity among the French population.

Currently, more than 23 million French people are overweight or obese, and more than 8 million French people are obese. The most effective treatment currently available is surgery. These procedures are governed by specific recommendations. Between 50,000 and 60,000 procedures are performed in France each year. Three procedures are authorised: gastric banding, sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass.

Hallyday & al report 65% of patients experiencing nausea/vomiting after bariatric surgery. In 2019, Suh & al showed that nausea and vomiting were more common after sleeve gastrectomy and that they were responsible for an increase in the length of hospitalisation. These episodes of nausea and vomiting occur within 48 hours after sleeve gastrectomy and can cause difficulties in resuming eating. One of the factors contributing to the occurrence of nausea and vomiting was the use of opioids.

The benefits of foot reflexology were reported in 2023 by Dr Carrazé in rectal surgery. His doctoral thesis in medicine showed that foot reflexology sessions on days 1, 2 and 3 following rectal surgery reduced post-operative ileus and post-operative pain. The reduction in post-operative ileus led to a decrease in episodes of nausea and vomiting.

In 2021, Murat-Ringot & al demonstrated the beneficial effect of foot reflexology on nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy sessions, in addition to the anti-emetic treatments used for prevention. Anderson & al. in 2021 also demonstrated a beneficial effect on pain in cancer patients, with no effect on nausea.

The principle of foot reflexology is based on the fact that each organ, gland or part of the body corresponds to a reflex zone on the foot, hand, ears or face. Stimulation of the reflex zones is thought to activate the autonomic nervous system. Currently, there is very little scientific evidence on how this practice works and what its effects are. Despite various scientific publications on the results of foot reflexology, scientific evidence of its effectiveness remains weak. Only one prospective randomised trial has been found in the literature (Dalal & al.) on the quality of life of patients with epilepsy.

Despite the lack of high-quality studies, it appears that foot reflexology could benefit patients by reducing nausea and vomiting. To date, no studies have evaluated its effectiveness in the post-operative period, particularly after bariatric surgery.

The aim of our randomised trial is to evaluate the impact of foot reflexology on nausea and vomiting after sleeve gastrectomy.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • France
      • La Roche-sur-Yon, France, 85000
        • Recruiting
        • Centre Hospitalier Départemental Vendée
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Emeric ABET

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adult patient
  • Patient scheduled to undergo sleeve gastrectomy
  • Patient capable of understanding the protocol and having given their informed verbal consent to participate in the study
  • Patient affiliated with the social security system or entitled to benefits

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients receiving long-term morphine and opioid treatment
  • Patients with phlebitis, a wound under the foot, or recent foot trauma (cast immobilisation, splint, etc.)
  • Patients under guardianship, curatorship, or deprived of their liberty
  • Patients who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or refusing contraception
  • Patients participating in another clinical research protocol that has an impact on the objective of the study
  • Patients under an activated future protection mandate
  • Patients under family authorisation
  • Patients under judicial protection

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Conventional care alone
Experimental: Conventional care + foot reflexology
Other: Foot reflexology

Foot reflexology sessions to:

  • Prepare the body and mind for surgery
  • Promote physical and nervous relaxation
  • Relieve post-operative nausea and vomiting

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of patients experiencing significant nausea and/or vomiting (with a score ≥ 3 on a numerical scale of 0 to 10) within 24 hours post-operatively
Time Frame: 24 hours post-operatively
A score of ≥ 3 corresponds to the introduction of treatment.
24 hours post-operatively

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Centre Hospitalier Departemental Vendee

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Emeric ABET, Centre Hospitalier Départemental Vendée

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

April 2, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

July 3, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 17, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 17, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

December 31, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 2, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 1, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CHD25_0097

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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