You have full access to this open access article. Although some research have suggested that aromatherapy with lavender essential oil can be effective in reducing pain and anxiety in various medical settings, the efficacy of lavender aromatherapy in the postoperative setting after cesarean delivery is less well-studied.
We aimed to assess the effectiveness of lavender essential oil therapy in the management of pain and anxiety after cesarean delivery. This was a monocentric randomized controlled double-blind trial conducted over a period of five months during A hundred women undergoing c-sections under spinal anesthesia were enrolled and randomly assigned; using block randomization of 4 items per block with allocation ratio , into two groups: The aromatherapy group receiving inhaled Lavender essential oil versus the placebo group receiving distilled water instead.
The primary outcomes were pain at rest and after mobilization and anxiety levels and after the intervention. This trial was registered on clinical-trials. A total of women were included 50 women in each group aromatherapy and the placebo group.
The two groups were comparable regarding baseline characteristics and pre-intervention parameters with no statistically significant difference. No adverse effects were reported by participants in both groups. Aromatherapy using Lavender essential oil is effective in reducing pain and anxiety after cesarean delivery without adverse effects. This definition describes pain as a biopsychological experience and a manifestation of tissue damage, such as surgery [ 1 ].
Besides, anxiety is defined as an emotional state anticipating a threatening event and is characterized by distressing feelings of fear, alertness, hypervigilance, apprehension, and dread of imminent danger, associated with neurovegetative manifestations [ 1 ]. Human adaptability is reduced and fear of uncontrollable pain increases, which in turn increases the sensation of pain, creating a vicious cycle [ 3 ].
