Episiotomy Discomforts Relief Using Cold Gel Pads in Primiparaus Iranian Women (A Comparative Study)

The effect of cold application on episiotomy pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the effectiveness of cold application methods in reducing postpartum episiotomy pain.

BACKGROUND

Many women suffer from pain after giving birth due to an episiotomy. This prolonged pain affects their daily lives as they recover. Various methods can help alleviate this pain; however, the effects of cold application specifically are still under discussion.

DESIGN

Systematic review and meta-analysis were used.

METHODS

In this review, we investigated studies from the CINAHL, PubMed, Google Scholar and Science Direct databases that met PICOS inclusion criteria. We also assessed the studies' methodological quality with the JADAD and JBI checklists. This study was performed based on the Guidelines of Systematic Reporting of Examination presented in the PRISMA checklist (Appendix S1). The search protocol has been registered at the PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews.

RESULTS

A total of seven published studies including 700 total participants were included in this review. Various cold application methods (cold gel pack/pad, crushed ice gel pad, ice pack) significantly reduced the pain after an episiotomy. Ice packs in particular did not significantly differ from lavender oil and acupressure in reducing pain after an episiotomy.

CONCLUSIONS

Cold application methods can be an effective, non-pharmacological midwifery and nursing intervention to reduce pain after an episiotomy.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

The use of cold application methods to reduce pain after episiotomy may reduce the need for pharmacological medication in women due to the reduction in pain in the perineum.

Local cooling for relieving pain from perineal trauma sustained during childbirth

BACKGROUND

Perineal trauma is common during childbirth and may be painful. Contemporary maternity practice includes offering women numerous forms of pain relief, including the local application of cooling treatments. This Cochrane Review is an update of a review last updated in 2012.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the effectiveness of localised cooling treatments compared with no treatment, placebo, or other cooling treatments applied to the perineum for pain relief following perineal trauma sustained during childbirth.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth's Trials Register, ClinicalTrials.gov, the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (7 October 2019) and reference lists of retrieved studies.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Published and unpublished randomised and quasi-randomised trials (RCTs) that compared a localised cooling treatment applied to the perineum with no treatment, placebo, or another cooling treatment applied to relieve pain related to perineal trauma sustained during childbirth.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently assessed study eligibility, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Data were double checked for accuracy. The certainty of the evidence was assessed using the GRADE approach.

MAIN RESULTS

We included 10 RCTs that enrolled 1233 women randomised to the use of one cooling treatment (ice, cold gel pad, cooling plus compression, cooling plus compression plus (being) horizontal) compared with another cooling treatment, no treatment, or placebo (water pack, compression). The included trials were at low or uncertain risk of bias overall, with the exception that the inability to blind participants and personnel to group allocation meant that we rated all trials at unclear or high risk for this domain. We undertook a number of comparisons to evaluate the different treatments. Cooling treatment (ice pack or cold gel pad) versus no treatment There was limited very low-certainty evidence that cooling treatment may reduce women's self-reported perineal pain within four to six hours (mean difference (MD) -4.46, 95% confidence interval (CI) -5.07 to -3.85 on a 10-point scale; 1 study, 100 participants) or between 24 and 48 hours of giving birth (risk ratio (RR) 0.73, 95% CI 0.57 to 0.94; 1 study, 316 participants). The evidence is very uncertain about the various measures of wound healing, for example, wound edges gaping when inspected five days after giving birth (RR 2.56, 95% CI 0.58 to 11.33; 1 study, 315 participants). Women generally rated their satisfaction with perineal care similarly following cooling or no treatment. The potential exception was that there may be a trivially lower mean difference of -0.1 on a five-point scale of psychospiritual comfort with cooling treatment, that is unlikely to be of clinical importance. Cooling treatment (cold gel pad) + compression versus placebo (gel pad + compression) There was limited low-certainty evidence that there may be a trivial MD of -0.43 in pain on a 10-point scale at 24 to 48 hours after giving birth (95% CI -0.73 to -0.13; 1 study, 250 participants) when a cooling treatment plus compression from a well-secured perineal pad was compared with the placebo. Levels of perineal oedema may be similar for the two groups (low-certainty evidence) and perineal bruising was not observed. There was low-certainty evidence that women may rate their satisfaction as being slightly higher with perineal care in the cold gel pad and compression group (MD 0.88, 95% CI 0.38 to 1.38; 1 trial, 250 participants). Cooling treatment (ice pack) versus placebo (water pack) One study reported that no women reported pain after using an ice pack or a water pack when asked within 24 hours of giving birth. There was low-certainty evidence that oedema may be similar for the two groups when assessed at four to six hours (RR 0.96, 95% CI 0.50 to 1.86; 1 study, 63 participants) or within 24 hours of giving birth (RR 0.36, 95% CI 0.08 to 1.59). No women were observed to have perineal bruising at these times. The trialists reported that no women in either group experienced any adverse effects on wound healing. There was very low-certainty evidence that women may rate their views and experiences with the treatments similarly (for example, satisfied with treatment: RR 0.91, 95% CI 0.77 to 1.08; 63 participants). Cooling treatment (ice pack) versus cooling treatment (cold gel pad) The evidence is very uncertain about the effects of using ice packs or cold gel pads on women's self-rated perineal pain, on perineal bruising, or on perineal oedema at four to six hours or within 24 hours of giving birth. Perineal oedema may persist 24 to 48 hours after giving birth in women using the ice packs (RR 1.69, 95% CI 1.03 to 2.7; 2 trials, 264 participants; very low-certainty). The risk of gaping wound edges five days after giving birth may be decreased in women who had used ice packs (RR 0.22, 95% CI 0.05 to 1.01; 215 participants; very low-certainty). However, this did not appear to persist to day 10 (RR 3.06, 95% CI 0.63 to 14.81; 214 participants). Women may rate their opinion of treatment less favourably following the use of ice packs five days after giving birth (RR 0.33, 95% CI 0.17 to 0.68; 1 study, 49 participants) and when assessed on day 10 (RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.73 to 0.92; 1 study, 208 participants), both very low-certainty.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

There is limited very low-certainty evidence that may support the use of cooling treatments, in the form or ice packs or cold gel pads, for the relief of perineal pain in the first two days following childbirth. It is likely that concurrent use of several treatments is required to adequately address this issue, including prescription and non-prescription analgesia. Studies included in this review involved the use of cooling treatments for 10 to 20 minutes, and although no adverse effects were noted, these findings came from studies of relatively small numbers of women, or were not reported at all. The continued lack of high-certainty evidence of the benefits of cooling treatments should be viewed with caution, and further well-designed trials should be conducted.

The Effects of Cold Application to the Perineum on Pain Relief After Vaginal Birth

PURPOSE

Perineal pain developing during the postpartum period affects women's relationships with their families and infants. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of cold gel pad application for relieving perineal pain and possibly increasing mothers' comfort after vaginal delivery.

METHODS

This experimental randomized controlled study was conducted in the postpartum department of obstetrics and gynecology hospital. A total of 200 mothers were included in the study. Cold gel pads were applied to the perineum of mothers in the experimental group for 20 minutes in the postpartum first 2 hours and 4 hours after the first application. All the data were collected by using an information form, the visual analog scale, and the postpartum comfort questionnaire.

RESULTS

In the experimental group, the first visual analog scale score was 6.73 ± 1.68; after cold gel pad application, the pain levels decreased to 2.59 ± 1.20 in both primiparous and multiparous mothers. In addition, the postpartum comfort questionnaire score increased from 2.58 ± 0.14 to 2.69 ± 0.14 in the second assessment after the cold gel pad application and the difference was statistically significant (p < .001).

CONCLUSION

The application of the cold gel pad to the perineum relieved perineal pain and increased postpartum comfort in all the women. The pain felt by the women during the recovery and the daily activities decreased. Postpartum perineal pain adversely affected daily activities such as lying down, sitting, and walking; infant care, breastfeeding, and urination; and comfort levels of the postpartum women.

A comparative study on the efficacy of Ibuprofen and celecoxib on the intensity of perineal pain following episiotomy: a randomized clinical trial

Background:

Pain is a worldwide problem that often originates from disease process, and diagnostic and treatment procedures such as surgical operations.

Objectives:

This trial was performed to compare the effectiveness of two analgesics for the management of perineal pain caused by episiotomy.

Materials and Methods:

A total of 170 nulliparous women who gave birth vaginally with episiotomy between March 2009 and November 2010 were randomly assigned to receive either ibuprofen or celecoxib which were given orally every 6 or 12 hours, respectively. Pain levels were measured before the intervention, and at 1, 2, 4, 8 and 12 hours after providing the first dose on a 10-cm visual analogue scale.

Results:

The results showed that the two groups had no significant differences regarding demographic characteristics, maternal, neonatal, and post-delivery factors, and mean premedication pain severity. Means of pain severity were different between the two groups as patients in the celecoxib group had lower means than the other group at 1,2,4,8 and 12 hours (4.01 ± 1.8 vs. 4.46 ± 1.9, 3.17 ± 1.9 vs. 3.79 ± 1.7, 2.89 ± 1.3 vs. 2.96 ± 1.5, 2.19 ± 1.8 vs. 2.55 ± 1.4, and 1.98 ± 1.1 vs. 2.45 ± 1.2, respectively) after administration of analgesics.

Conclusions:

Patients who received celecoxib had lower VAS in comparison with others. Although these differences were not significant, as celecoxib has longer half-life, fewer upper GI symptoms, and is better tolerated based on the previous studies, and this study is in favor of using it.

Local cooling for relieving pain from perineal trauma sustained during childbirth

BACKGROUND

Perineal trauma is common during childbirth and may be painful. Contemporary maternity practice includes offering women numerous forms of pain relief, including the local application of cooling treatments.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the effectiveness and side effects of localised cooling treatments compared with no treatment, other forms of cooling treatments and non-cooling treatments.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (10 January 2012), CINAHL (1982 to 10 January 2012), the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Register (10 January 2012) and contacted experts in the field.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Published and unpublished randomised and quasi-randomised trials (RCTs) that compared localised cooling treatment applied to the perineum with no treatment or other treatments applied to relieve pain related to perineal trauma sustained during childbirth.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

At least two review authors independently assessed trials for inclusion, assessed trial quality and extracted data. A sub-set of data were double checked for accuracy. Analyses were performed on an intention-to-treat basis where data allowed. We sought additional information from the authors of three trials.

MAIN RESULTS

Ten published RCTs were included (involving 1825 women). Comparisons were local cooling treatments (ice packs, cold gel pads (with or without compression) or cold/iced baths) with no treatment, gel pads with compression, hamamelis water (witch hazel), pulsed electromagnetic energy (PET), hydrocortisone/pramoxine foam (Epifoam), oral paracetamol or warm baths. Ice packs provided improved pain relief 24 to 72 hours after birth compared with no treatment (risk ratio (RR) 0.61; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.41 to 0.91; one study, n = 208). Women preferred the utility of the gel pads compared with ice packs or no treatment (RR 0.82; 95% CI 0.73, 0.92). Differences detected in a composite of perineal oedema and bruising and overall wound healing were noted in one small study, favouring cold gel pads (n = 37) over ice (n = 35, mean difference (MD) 0.63 on a scale of 0 to 15; 95% CI 0.20 to 1.06) or no treatment (n = 39, MD -2.10; 95% CI -3.80 to -0.40) three to 14 days after giving birth. Women reported more pain (RR 5.60; 95% CI 2.35 to 13.33; one study, 100 women) and used more additional analgesia (RR 4.00; 95% CI 1.44 to 11.13; one study, 100 women) following the application of ice packs compared with PET.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

There is only limited evidence to support the effectiveness of local cooling treatments (ice packs, cold gel pads, cold/iced baths) applied to the perineum following childbirth to relieve pain.