TITLE:
Effects of Traditional Chinese Medicine-Based Nursing Techniques on Postoperative Wound Pain in Patients Undergoing Open Thoracic Surgery
AUTHORS:
Yan Liu, Jingwen Zhang
KEYWORDS:
Traditional Chinese Medicine-Based Nursing, Thoracic Surgery, Open Thoracotomy, Postoperative Wound Pain, Wound Healing
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biosciences and Medicines,
Vol.14 No.4,
March
27,
2026
ABSTRACT: Objective: To investigate the effects of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)-based nursing techniques on postoperative wound pain in patients undergoing open thoracic surgery, and to provide evidence for optimizing clinical nursing care. Methods: A total of 220 patients who underwent open thoracic surgery between 2024 and 2025 were enrolled and randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 110) or a control group (n = 110). The control group received routine postoperative nursing care, whereas the experimental group received additional TCM-based nursing interventions, including acupoint application, moxibustion, and auricular acupressure. Postoperative pain intensity at different time points, analgesic consumption, wound recovery-related outcomes, and adverse events were compared between the two groups. Results: Visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group from 12 hours postoperatively onward (P