Reiki: A Complementary Therapy For Managing Pain And Anxiety In Children Undergoing Surgery

Abstract

Introduction: Along with the pharmacological measures, any complementary therapy is also an important factor for a best outcome as complementary therapy can work in tandem with standard medical management without causing any adverse effect. Reiki is a form of energy healing touch therapy. So along with routine medical measures, some complementary therapy can also be adopted to cope with invasive procedures. However, there is a lack of solid scientific evidence about the clinical benefits of complementary therapy in paediatric patients; especially Reiki Therapy. Hence the  study aimed to find the effectiveness of reiki therapy among children undergoing surgery. Materials and Methods: A Quasi experimental pre-test post-test control group research design was adopted for the study. It was conducted among children aged between 6- 12 years who undergone elective surgery in Yenepoya Medical College Hospital, Mangaluru. The study participants were recruited using non probability purposive sampling technique. The sample size was 84, allocated 42 each in intervention and control group. Anxiety was assessed one day before surgery, on the day of surgery, 12 hours after surgery, 24 hours after surgery and 48 hours after surgery using the tool modified Yale Pre operative Anxiety Scale. Post operative pain was assessed on 12 hours after surgery, 24 hours after surgery and 48 hours after the  surgery using Wong Baker Faces Pain rating scale. The intervention group received reiki therapy two times a day (with a gap of 5 hours in between) on one day before surgery, on the day of surgery, 12 hours after surgery, 24 hours after surgery and 48 hours after surgery, whereas the control group children received the routine care. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: When comparing the post operative pain scores within the intervention and control groups, mean pre- to post-test score showed a significant difference in the intervention group (p<0.05), whereas in control group there is no significant difference found. Within the intervention and control groups, the comparison of the anxiety score showed there is a significant difference in the intervention group (p<0.05), where as in control group there is no significant difference found when comparing the mean pre- to post-test score (p>0.05). Effectiveness of Reiki Therapy between the group showed there is no significant difference when comparing post operative pain between the intervention and control group(p>0.05), while, in case of anxiety between the intervention and control group, there is a significant difference found in the mean post-test scores (p<0.05) for most of the outcome. Conclusion: This study concluded that Reiki therapy is effective in controlling anxiety among children undergoing surgery. It can be implemented in clinical setting for planned surgeries as a preparation to the children to cope with anxiety.