RESUMEN
One non-pharmacological method that can be used to safely and without negative side effects is aromatherapy. This meta-analysis study was carried out to assess the effectiveness of aromatherapy in the treatment of labor pain. The analysis included 14 randomized controlled trials of aromatherapy interventions for labor pain. In the studies, it was observed that aromatherapy was applied through massage and inhalation using oils such as lavender, jasmine, rose, chamomile, bitter orange, and boswellia. In the meta-analysis, it was discovered that aromatherapy had a beneficial effect on the management of labor pain and reduced labor pain in the intervention group in 11 studies; it was found that there was no effect in 3 studies. According to analysis findings, aromatherapy significantly lessened the intensity of labor pain. The study's findings support the notion that aromatherapy can lessen labor pain.
RESUMEN
This was a randomized, placebo-controlled study. The sample consisted of 3 groups of patients: an experimental group, massage application with lavender oil (n = 15); a placebo group, massage application with ultrasound gel (n = 15); and a control group (n = 15). Massage application was performed 3 hours after analgesic application. Pain levels of the patients in the experiment and placebo groups were evaluated with a Verbal Rating Scale (VRS) at the 30th minute and the 3rd hour after the application. Similarly, the pain level of patients in the control group was also evaluated with the VRS at 3 hours after the initial analgesic administration and following the 30th minute and the 3rd hour. Generally, the VRS scores of the 3 groups did not show a significant difference in terms of group and time interaction (P = .221). However, there was a significant difference in VRS scores between the experimental and control groups at the 30th minute after the massage (P = .036). This difference was caused by the lower pain level of the group, which had massage with lavender (2.66 ± .89) compared with the control group (3.80 ± 1.01). According to the study results, while only hand massage application after gynecologic surgery was effective for a short period in decreasing postoperative pain, it was determined that massage application with lavender had a longer effect in decreasing postoperative pain. The results of this study showed that this inexpensive and easy-to-apply method can be safely performed by nurses on postoperative patients and can support pain management of patients in the first hours after gynecologic surgery.