Intervention
postoperative pain, pain
On the morning of surgery, each patient was asked to rate pain VAS using understandable and straightforward sentences during a training session. After transferring patients to the postoperative ward and consciousness recovery, participants in the intervention group received TENS or massage in addition to conventional pharmacological treatment. No intervention was applied to the control group, who only received conventional pharmacological treatment. Acetaminophen (Paracetamol) was prescribed 15 mg/kg/dose every 8 h according to our standard organizational protocol to relieve postoperative pain. In addition, patients received intramuscular Pethidine 25 mg/mL at regular intervals in case of more severe pain.Both massage therapy techniques and TENS were performed at regular intervals of 4, 8, and 12 h after surgery by a trained individual and under the supervision of a physiotherapist. The interventions lasted 30 min in a quiet environment away from noise (3 times, 90 min in total).In addition, to avoid bias, in all groups, the researcher attended during the study at the mentioned times, and asked the participants to lie on the bed for 30 min in a supine position with their head at a height of 30 Degree headrest.