Cold Therapy for Pain Control in Pediatric Appendectomy Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Topical ice has been shown to reduce pain scores and opioid use in adults with midline abdominal incisions. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of a cold therapy system in children following laparoscopic appendectomy. Patients 7 years and older who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy at...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of pediatric surgery 2024-07, Vol.59 (7), p.1304-1308
Main Authors: Scalise, P. Nina, Koo, Donna C., Durgin, Jonathan M., Truche, Brianna Slatnick, Staffa, Steven J., Greco, Christine, Solodiuk, Jean, Lee, Eliza J., Demehri, Farokh R., Kim, Heung Bae
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Analgesics, Opioid - therapeutic use
Appendectomy - adverse effects
Appendectomy - methods
Appendicitis - complications
Appendicitis - surgery
Child
Cold therapy
Cryotherapy - methods
Female
Humans
Incisional pain
Laparoscopy - methods
Male
Pain Management - methods
Pain Measurement
Pain, Postoperative - etiology
Pain, Postoperative - prevention & control
Patient Satisfaction
Treatment Outcome
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Topical ice has been shown to reduce pain scores and opioid use in adults with midline abdominal incisions. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of a cold therapy system in children following laparoscopic appendectomy. Patients 7 years and older who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy at our institution from December 2021–September 2022 were eligible. Patients were randomized to standard pain therapy (control) or standard plus cold therapy (treatment) utilizing a modified ice machine system with cool abdominal pad postoperatively. Pain scores on the first 3 postoperative days (PODs), postoperative narcotic consumption, and patient satisfaction were analyzed. Fifty-eight patients were randomized, 29 to each group. Average survey response rate was 74% in control and 89% in treatment patients. There was no significant difference in median pain scores or narcotic use between groups. Cold therapy contributed to subjective pain improvement in 71%, 74%, and 50% of respondents on PODs 1, 2, and 3 respectively. A majority of patients reported cold therapy to be a helpful adjunct in pain control after appendectomy, though it did not reduce postoperative pain scores or narcotic use in our cohort - likely due to this population's naturally expedient recovery and low baseline narcotic requirement. Randomized Controlled Trial. Level I.
ISSN:0022-3468
1531-5037
DOI:10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2024.02.036