EFFECTIVENESS OF REFLEXOLOGY ON POST-OPERATIVE OUTCOMES AMONG PATIENTS UNDERGOING CARDIAC SURGERY: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Cardiovascular diseases are the major cause of mortality globally as well as in India. 31% of all death are from cardiovascular diseases. Today cardiac hospitals in India perform over 2 lakhs open heart surgeries per year which is one of the highest worldwide. Study Design: Systematic review Aims And Objectives: The review was initiated with an objective to evaluate the effectiveness of reflexology on post- operative outcomes among patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Background: Nursing care for a cardiac surgery patient is complex and dynamic. Comprehensive nursing care is needed to ensure the complete recovery of the patient after cardiac surgery. The nurse plays a significant role in the peri-operative care of cardiac surgery patients to help them achieve good post-operative outcomes and faster recovery. Design: Systematic review based on PRISMA guidelines Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, ScienceDirect, Shodhganga, BASE, Science.gov, Google Scholar, ProQuest, ClinicalKey, Semantic Scholar, ERIC and ResearchGate databases for articles published in English language from 1981 January to 2021 January. Despite the fact that there were 590 studies found, only 18 were judged to be eligible for analysis. All of the studies were subjected to a quality review, data extraction, and analysis. Results: The methodological quality of 18 papers was evaluated. A meta-analysis was not done since the methodology of chosen reviews was heterogeneous. The reviewers classified the primary outcomes as pain, anxiety, exhaustion, sleep quality, physiological parameters, and mechanical ventilation weaning time. Discussion: The evidence for the usefulness of reflexology on various post-operative outcomes in patients after cardiac surgery is presented in this review. The research in this review have a wide range of methodological features. Greater research using rigorous scientific methods is needed to offer more evidence of reflexology's usefulness. Conclusion: Despite the fact that reflexology has a number of beneficial outcomes for patients following heart surgery, there are little studies in this field. This emphasises the need for future studies to give greater evidence for the use of reflexology in heart surgery patients to enhance post-operative outcomes and speed recovery. Relevance To Clinical Practice: Reflexology is found effective in relieving pain, anxiety and fatigue and maintaining physiological parameters and hemodynamic status of patients during the post-operative period. Nurses can perform reflexology to achieve better post-operative outcomes for patients undergoing cardiac surgery.