The Effects of Massage and Music Interventions on Postoperative Pain Severity Following Cardiac Surgery: A Systematic...

To investigate the impact of massage and music interventions on alleviating pain severity in the intensive care unit (ICU) within the first 48 hours after cardiac surgery.

Systematic review and meta-analysis.

The study has been proactively registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022297174) to ensure transparency and compliance with scientific standards. Studies published in the English and Turkish languages until December 2024 were included in the search, utilizing various scientific databases such as MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, Science Direct, Web of Science, Scopus, Cumulative Index to Nursing, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and the Turkish academic Google database. The Critical Evaluation 13 Model Checklist at the Joanna Briggs Institute was utilized to assess the quality appraisal of the studies included in the research. The data were subjected to both meta-analysis and narrative synthesis techniques. Meta-analysis was conducted using Review Manager 5.4.1 software.

The review included 19 randomized controlled trials. Eight were in massage intervention, and 11 were in music intervention. Massage intervention (p < .00001) and music listening (p = .0008) both demonstrated a significant reduction in pain severity within the first 48 hours of ICU admission.

The results of this study show that both massage and music intervention resulted in a tangible and statistically significant reduction in pain severity within the first 48 hours of ICU.