The effect of preoperative in-person education on the pain severity of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery

Pain is one of the most common symptoms experienced by patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Adequate pain management is critical to the well-being and overall recovery of these patients. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of preoperative in-person pain education on the pain severity experienced by patients undergoing CABG surgery in Rajaie Cardiovascular, Medical and Research Center in Tehran in 2022. In this quasi-experimental study, 72 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery were selected and randomly divided into intervention (n=36) and control (n=36) groups. The intervention group received pain control education for 20 to 30 minutes and the control group received only standard preoperative care. The pain severity was measured using the numerical rating scale (NRS) tool at different time points, including before the operation, as well as 2, 5 and 8 hours after the surgery. Based on the results, preoperative pain education did not show a significant difference in pain severity between the intervention and control groups immediately (2 hours) after endotracheal tube removal (P=0.313). However, a significant difference in the pain severity was observed at 5 hours (P=0.006) and 8 hours (P=0.015) after removal of the endotracheal tube. Moreover, the intervention group had lower pain severity when taking analgesics and higher pain severity when using non-pharmacological methods compared to the control group (P=0.046). Preoperative in-person education may be effective in reducing pain severity in patients undergoing CABG surgery, especially when they are not taking analgesics. These findings demonstrate the importance of implementing preoperative education programs to improve patient outcomes and improve postoperative pain management.