Assess the Effectiveness of Ice Pack Application on Pain Prior to Chest Tube Removal Among Post Operative Patients

Background: Pain is the unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. The removal of chest tubes has been describes as one of the worst experiences in the Intensive Care Unit for the patients.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of icepack application on the level of pain after to chest tube removal among post operative patients in experimental group and to associate the post test level of pain with selected demographical variables in experimental and control group.

Methodology: Quasi experimental post test only design were adopted for the study. The study was conducted at Bharath Hospital, Kerala. Non probability convenient sampling technique was chosen to select the fifty sample who met the inclusion criteria. Data were collected by using Numeric Pain Rating Scale.

Results: The findings of the study indicates that there was significant reduction in pain in experimental group after icepack application than the control group among post operative patients(at p< 0.001). There is no significant association between the demographic variables with the post test level of pain among patients in both experimental and control group.