Preoperative pain education improves recovery, mental health outcomes after C-section

Educating pregnant women scheduled to undergo elective caesarean section (C-section) helps alleviate pain after the procedure, reduce the use of analgesic drugs, promote early recovery, as well as reduce the incidence of postpartum depression, according to a study.

The study included 160 pregnant women who elected to deliver via C-section. These women were allocated to either the observation group (n=80) or the control group (n=80). The observation group received preoperative pain education based on routine preoperative guidance, while the control group received routine preoperative guidance.

Outcomes included postoperative pain (measured on the visual analogue scale [VAS]), postpartum depression, demand for analgesics, time to first ambulation, and drug-related adverse reactions.

At 24 h after the elective C-section delivery, the VAS scores were significantly lower in the observation group than those in the control group (p<0.05), as was the use of postoperative analgesic drugs (57.8 vs 60.2 µg; p=0.001).

First ambulation occurred sooner in the observation group at 4 h as opposed to 4.5 h in the control group (p=0.000). Finally, two women in the observation group and vs 10 in the control group had postpartum depression, corresponding to an odds ratio of 0.179 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.038–0.847; p=0.016).

The findings demonstrate the favourable impact of preoperative pain education on women undergoing elective C-section.