Evaluation of the effect of aromatherapy with lavender essential oil on post-tonsillectomy pain in pediatric patients: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effect of aromatherapy with Lavandula angustifolia essential oil on post-tonsillectomy pain in pediatric patients.

Methods: This was a randomized controlled prospective clinical trial. In this study, 48 post-tonsillectomy patients aged 6-12 years were randomly assigned to two groups (24 patients in each group). After tonsillectomy surgery, all patients received acetaminophen (10-15 mg/kg/dose, PO) every 6h as necessary to relieve pain. The patients of the case group also inhaled lavender essential oil. The frequencies of daily use of acetaminophen and nocturnal awakening due to pain, and pain intensity (evaluated using visual analog scale [VAS]) were recorded for each patient for 3 days after surgery. Finally, the mean values of variables were compared between two groups separately for each post-operative day.

Results: The use of lavender essential oil caused statistically significant reduction in daily use of acetaminophen in all three post-operative days but had not significant effects on pain intensity and frequency of nocturnal awakening.

Conclusion: Aromatherapy with lavender essential oil decreases the number of required analgesics following tonsillectomy in pediatric patients.

Keywords: Aromatherapy; Essential oil; Lavender; Pain; Tonsillectomy.