Effect of acupressure on preoperative anxiety: a clinical trial

Preoperative anxiety, as an emotional reaction, is common among patients undergoing surgery. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of acupressure on preoperative anxiety before abdominal surgery. The 70 subjects of this clinical trial were randomly assigned into the acupressure group (n=35), which received acupressure at the true points, or the placebo group (n=35), which received acupressure at sham (false) points. Preoperative anxiety and vital signs before and after the intervention were measured in both groups. The findings demonstrated a reduction in the level of preoperative anxiety for both groups (P<.001). Furthermore, they showed a statistically significant difference between the mean of vital signs before and after the intervention in the acupressure group (P<.001) and only statistically significant results for cardiovascular (P=.016) and respiratory rates (P=.007) in the placebo group. Overall, findings revealed that acupressure at true points (third eye and Shen men) can reduce higher preoperative anxiety of patients before abdominal surgery and that it has had a more clinically beneficial effect than sham points.