PURPOSE
This study was to compare the effects of early ambulation to usual care of late ambulation in patients with transarterial chemoembolization on back pain, discomfort, and puncture site complications.
METHODS
A non-equivalent control pretest-posttest design was used. Total 40 patients were recruited from a gastrointestinal unit of an urban general hospital in Seoul, South Korea. The experimental group began to ambulate after 4 hours of bed rest with a compression bandage after receiving transarterial chemoembolization. The control group stayed in bed with a compression bandage overnight.
RESULTS
Back pain was not significantly different between the two group. The experimental group reported significantly lower discomfort than the control group. There was no incidence of bleeding complications on puncture site between two groups.
CONCLUSION
The results of this study showed that early ambulation with four hours of bed rest after femoral sheet removal did not cause bleeding complications compared to the usual care and even decreased patients' level of discomfort due to bed rest. Repetitive research on the effect of short bed rest is warranted for its clinical utilization.