Results of nonpharmacological approaches to treating pain
Researchers at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, in Chicago evaluated the effectiveness of an inpatient integrative medicine consult service for pain management.
First, the details.
- The medical records of approximately 1837 cardiovascular, medical, surgical, orthopedics, spine, rehabilitation, oncology, and women’s health patients were reviewed.
- Treatments included non-pharmaceutical services.
- Mind body therapies to elicit the relaxation response,
- Acupuncture
- Acupressure
- Massage therapy
- Healing touch
- Music therapy
- Aromatherapy
- Reflexology
- Pre and post-treatment pain scores were measured using a on a verbal scale of 0 to 10.
And, the results.
- 66% of patients never previously received integrative services.
- Provision of integrative services had immediate and beneficial effects on pain scores.
- The average reduction in pain scores was 1.9 points (on a 10-point scale).
- The average percentage in pain reduction was approximately 55%.
The bottom line?
The authors concluded, “Our real-world study broadly shows that these therapies effectively reduce pain by over 50% across numerous patient populations.”
Furthermore, the authors concluded it was a service that was practical and financially feasible in the real world.
It would be useful to know the contributions of individual treatments. You might have to read the study for that information. Or, perhaps it’s another study.
3/9/10 19:51 JR