THE EFFECT OF LOCAL HEAT THERAPY ON THE STATE OF DEFECATION IN PATIENTS BEING FED THROUGH NASOGASTRIC TUBE

Constipation is Common complication gastrointestinal that have a significant
impact on the health and quality of life. Using heat therapy is one of the proposed non-pharmaceutical
interventions. The present study was conducted to determine the effect of abdominal local heat therapy
on the state of defecation in patients fed through nasogastric tubes.
Materials & Methods: This study is a double blind clinical trial performed in 2015 to 8 months in the
inner part of Qaem Hospital of Mashhad - Iran. In this study, 64 patients on nutrition through a
nasogastric tube were randomly studied into two groups: placebo and experimental group. The patients
in experimental group of local heat therapy with standard hot pack with the temperature 50 ° C on the
abdomen for 23 minutes. In the placebo group, hot pack temperature was equal to the ambient
temperature. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and a form containing records of
the patients’ digestive function. Data were analyzed in SPSS 20.
Results: Defecation in the experimental group statistically had a significant difference before and after
the intervention (p<0.05). But in the placebo group there was no significant difference in the state of
defecation during the evaluation conducted at different stages.
Conclusion: The findings of this study show the effect of local Hyperthermia in improves on the state
defecation and reduce constipation in patients being fed through nasogastric tube and it is suggested
further studies to use it at the same time