The Effect of Reiki Application on Episiotomy and Perineal Pain

Purpose: To investigate the effect of Reiki application on postpartum episiotomy recovery and perineal pain in postpartum women who had vaginal delivery. Design and framework: The research is randomized controlled in a pre-test post-test order in a hospital in Turkey. By using Simple Random Numbers Table as the randomization method in the selection of the sample, a total of 86 puerperal women, 40 in the intervention group and 46 in the control group, were recruited. Episiotomy recovery of the intervention and control groups on the 1st day, 2nd day, 7th day, and 14th day postpartum was evaluated with the REEDA Scale, and perineal pain was evaluated with the McGill Pain Scale Short Form. Participants: Postpartum women who gave vaginal birth participated in the study. Intervention: 3 sessions of Reiki for 35-40 minutes were applied to the intervention group on the 1st, 2nd and 7th days of birth. Results: There was a significant difference between the mean REEDA Scale edema scores in the 7th day (p=0.028) and 14th day (p=0.013) follow-up of the intervention and control groups. A significant difference was found between the 3rd post-test McGill Pain Scale Short Form total pain score averages (p=0.005) and the 4th follow-up McGill Pain Scale Short Form total pain score averages (p=0.001) of the intervention and control groups.