A Comparative Study on the Effects of Acupressure at Neiguan (PC6) and Sanyinjiao (SP6) Points on Post-Cesarean Pain in Primiparous Women

Comparison of the effect of acupressure of Niguwan (pc6) and Sanyingjao (sp6) points on the severity of post-cesarean section pain in primiparous women.

A controlled, parallel-group, single-blind, randomized, phase 1 clinical trial on 108 patients. R software was used for randomization.

The present study was conducted in Shahid Rahimi Hospital, Khorramabad. The aim of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of acupressure in reducing post-cesarean section pain. Participants will be randomly assigned to three intervention groups (PC6 and SP6 points) and control (sham acupressure) in a block-wise manner. The intervention will be performed twice postoperatively, and pain intensity will be measured at five time points using the VAS scale. All participants will receive routine hospital analgesics. Blinding of participants will be accomplished through the use of sham acupressure and concealed allocation with sealed envelopes. The person recording pain intensity will also be blinded to the type of intervention.

Primiparous women with their first cesarean delivery by a designated gynecologist at Shahid Rahimi Hospital in Khorramabad, aged between 18 and 45 years, and singletons without any diseases or problems.

After selecting eligible individuals, their allocation to three intervention groups (acupressure at the PC6 point, acupressure at the SP6 point) and the control group (apparent acupressure without real pressure) will be performed using a block randomization method with a block size of six.

Reducing pain in women after cesarean section, reducing painkiller use

A total of 108 women who give birth by cesarean section in Rafsanjan maternity hospitals will be selected purposively based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. They will then be randomly assigned to three groups (two intervention groups and one control group) so that both groups are identical in terms of pain intensity after cesarean section. The first person will be assigned to the groups by simple randomization and the rest will be based on the total number of samples in each location. Sampling will continue until the desired sample size is reached. Given that numerous factors can affect pain, but ultimately these factors are measured in the pre-test pain intensity, the three groups will be matched based on the pre-test pain intensity.

This study is designed as a single-blind clinical trial; participants will not be aware of the type of intervention they will receive (real or apparent pressure). In order to increase the validity of the results and reduce bias, in the control group, the intervention will be performed in the form of superficial touch on the acupressure point (PC6 or SP6) without applying pressure; while in the intervention group, the same points will be stimulated with standard pressure in accordance with the scientific principles of acupressure. Both types of interventions will be performed in completely identical environmental conditions and by a trained person (the principal investigator). During the study, participants will only be presented with a general explanation of "applying contact to one of the body points to investigate its effect on post-cesarean section pain" and will not be aware of the type of contact (real or apparent). To prevent the transfer of information between participants, interventions will be performed in separate rooms, with silence, minimal traffic, and no companion present. Participants are also asked not to discuss with others how they feel or what type of contact they receive during the study.