Effects of Massage Therapy on Sleep After Heart Surgery

Patients We evaluated patients admitted to the ward waiting for elective CABG surgery.

Preoperative evaluation The preoperative clinical assessment consisted of obtaining information regarding demographics and personal characteristics.

Postoperative protocol and evaluation After discharge from the intensive care unit to the ward during the postoperative period, the patients were randomized to 3 nights of sitting for 10 minutes, with no intervention (Control) or to MT. Briefly, MT consisted of massage of the neck, shoulders, and back. The massage was initiated with light manual compression and progressed to deep compression. The compression was performed with the inner region of the fingers, hand-shaped clamp, and friction (digital compression with the thumb) on trigger points, cervical traction, and mobilization in all planes (front, back, and sides). The massage was finished with light manual compression. During the study period, all patients completed a sleep diary containing the time they went to sleep, woke up, and took daytime naps. The patients completed a VAS for pain and fatigue (similar to the preoperative evaluation described previously) as well as a VAS for sleep on days 1, 2, and 3, corresponding to the morning following the intervention that was performed on the previous night.

Inclusion criteria

• Inclusion criteria included patients of both genders, between 40 to 80 years of age which were waiting for Coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Exclusion criteria

• Patients with body mass index (BMI) ≥35kg/m2
• Regular alcohol consumption
• Chronic use of hypnotics
• A previous diagnosis of sleep disorders
• Previous surgeries performed in the last 24 months
• The inability to read and write. We also excluded patients who underwent valve surgery combined with CABG, the presence of a thoracic drain, and ICU stay longer than 5 days in the postoperative period