Comparison of the Effect of Inhalation Aromatherapy with 10% and 30% Peppermint Essential Oils on the Severity of Nausea in Abdominal Surgery Patients

• Published in: Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine 2020, Vol.2020 (2020), p.1-7
• Main Authors: Khatony, Alireza, Rezaei, Mansour, Rezaei, Jahangir, Ahmadi, Yasin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abdomen; Abdominal surgery; Alternative medicine; Aromatherapy; Cancer; Cholecystectomy; Comparative analysis; Consent; Demographics; Essential oils; Ethics; Gallbladder diseases; Gastroesophageal reflux; Hospital patients; Hospitals; Hypotheses; Inhalation; Intervention; Mentha piperita; Narcotics; Nausea; Oils & fats; Patients; Statistical analysis; Surgery; Variance analysis; Vomiting
• ISSN: 1741-427X; 1741-4288
• DOI: 10.1155/2020/5897465

Background. One of the most common surgical complications is nausea. Regarding the contradictory findings on the effect of aromatherapy with peppermint on the severity of nausea, in the present study, we aimed at comparing the effect of aromatherapy with 10% and 30% peppermint essential oils on the severity of nausea in surgical patients. Methods. This single-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted at the surgical ward of Imam Reza Hospital in Kermanshah, Iran. A total of 120 patients undergoing abdominal surgery were randomly divided into three groups of 10% peppermint, 30% peppermint, and control (40 patients in each group) using a random number table. In each of the intervention groups, 0.2 ml of 10% and 30% peppermint essential oil was inhaled. In the control group, the same amount of distilled water colored with green food coloring was inhaled. The severity of nausea was measured by nausea visual analog scale (NVAS) before and 10 minutes after the intervention. Results. In the 10% peppermint group, the mean severity of nausea before the intervention was 52.3 ± 13.7 out of 100, which reduced to 40.5 ± 13.5 after the intervention (p