The use of cold therapy, music therapy and lidocaine spray for reducing pain and anxiety following chest tube removal

Aim: To determine the effect of cold therapy, music therapy and lidocaine spray on pain and anxiety following chest tube removal (CTR). Methods: This study was a randomized clinical trial. The participants were randomly assigned either one of four groups: control group, cold therapy, music therapy, and lidocaine spray. The primary outcome of the study was to measure pain using Visual Analog Scale. Anxiety was used as secondary outcome. Results: Thirty patients in each arm completed the study. There was no difference in pain scores between groups immediately after and 20 min after CTR (F = 2.06, p = 0.108). However, there was a significant difference between the anxiety scores of control and intervention groups 20 min after CTR (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Cold therapy reduced anxiety levels after the procedure. A multimodal approaches, such as the administration of pharmacologic agents in conjunction with non-pharmacological interventions including cold therapy may also be suggested.