Text messaging reduces analgesic requirements during surgery
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to determine whether communicating via short message service text message during surgery procedures leads to decreased intake of fentanyl for patients receiving regional anesthesia below the waist compared with a distraction condition and no intervention. METHODS: Ninety-eight patients receiving regional anesthesia for minor surgeries were recruited from a hospital in Montreal, QC, between January and March 2012. Patients were randomly assigned to text message with a companion, text message with a stranger, play a distracting mobile phone game, or receive standard perioperative management. Participants who were asked to text message or play a game did so before receiving the anesthetic and continued until the end of the procedure. RESULTS: The odds of receiving supplemental analgesia during surgery for patients receiving standard perioperative management were 6.77 (P=0.009; N=13/25) times the odds for patients in the text a stranger condition (N=22/25 of patients), 4.39 times the odds for those in the text a companion condition (P=0.03; N=19/23), and 1.96 times the odds for those in the distraction condition (P=0.25; N=17/25). CONCLUSION: Text messaging during surgery provides analgesic-sparing benefits that surpass distraction techniques, suggesting that mobile phones provide new opportunities for social support to improve patient comfort and reduce analgesic requirements during minor surgeries and in other clinical settings.
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In an experiment, patients who text messaged during surgery felt more socially supported than patients who did not.
“In one experiment, text messaging reduced anxiety during a negative experience: Patients who text messaged during surgery felt more socially supported and required less pain medication than patients who did not [59].”
From Two social lives: how differences between online and offline interaction influence social outcomes (2020) · cites this paper as [59]
In the same experiment, patients who text messaged during surgery required less pain medication than patients who did not.
“In one experiment, text messaging reduced anxiety during a negative experience: Patients who text messaged during surgery felt more socially supported and required less pain medication than patients who did not [59].”
From Two social lives: how differences between online and offline interaction influence social outcomes (2020) · cites this paper as [59]
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- Authors
- Guillory, J. E., Hancock, J. T., Woodruff, C., & Keilman, J.
- Affiliations
- Cornell University (US)
- McGill University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Guillory, Jamie E.
- Venue
- Pain Medicine
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2015-04
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 667-672
- ISSN
- 1526-2375 (ISSN-L)
- 1526-4637
- OpenAlex
- W2151771360
- Cited by
- 22
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 1.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Pain Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Anesthesia and Pain Management
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Pediatric Pain Management Techniques
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Pain Management and Placebo Effect
- Keywords
- intraoperative analgesia, fentanyl requirement, regional anesthesia, distraction techniques, mobile games, social support, minor surgery, perioperative pain management
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Female, Fentanyl, Humans, Male, Narcotics, Pain, Pain Management, Text Messaging
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