The effect of oral cold administrations on the management of postoperative thirst: A systematic review

• Published in: Journal of critical care 2024-06, Vol.81, p.154618, Article 154618
• Main Authors: Celik, Sevilay Senol, MERT, Sabiha, Arslan, Hande Nur
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cold; Critical care; Ice; Postoperative; Quality of life; Systematic review; Thirst; Water
• ISSN: 0883-9441; 1557-8615
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrc.2024.154618

Thirst is one of the most bothersome symptoms experienced by surgical patients. Effective thirst intervention and management in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) and hospital wards are critical because patients are less sedated and more aware of the problem than before. There is still a need to review the literature on identifying and treating thirst in a hospital ward and PACU patients. This systematic review aimed to examine the available evidence on the effectiveness of cold oral administrations on thirst in postoperative patients. This is a systematic review study. Between January 2008 and January 2023, articles in PUBMED, Web of Science, Science-Direct databases, Tübitak-ULAKBİM, and TRDizin include cold oral applications to relieve the thirst of patients in the postoperative period were included in the study. The PICOT-SD method was used as Eligibility Criteria for inclusion in the study. Among the eligibility criteria were that the articles were in English-Turkish and within the targeted dates, the studies included nursing interventions, the primary outcome of the studies was thirst, and the study sample included postoperative patients. The RoB2 tool developed by Cochrane was used for the risk of bias. A total of 254 articles were accessed with keywords from the databases, and 244 did not meet the study criteria; 30 were excluded because there was no interventional study, 61 were not postoperative population,56 were duplicated, and 79 were not from a related topic. As a result, a total of 10 studies consisting of randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental articles met the criteria of our research. Cold oral administrations effectively reduced the thirst rates of postoperative patients and improved their health-related quality of life. It has also been found to have a reducing effect on other anesthesia-related complications. This systematic review concluded that cold oral administrations have promising effects on thirst, dry mouth, and health-related quality of life. Cold oral applications are cost-effective and suitable for large-scale applications in healthcare settings.