Written by Angeline A. De Leon, Staff Writer. Three to four 30-minute sessions of Reiki therapy significantly enhanced pain management and post-operative recovery in knee replacement patients. 

surgeryReiki is a Japanese-based technique for stress reduction and relaxation, involving the use of gentle touch from the hands. Categorized as a biofield therapy by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health 1, it uses the flow and transfer of energy between living systems (known in traditional healing practices as “chi” or “universal life force”) in order to promote healing, recovery, and a general feeling of well-being in the recipient. Over the last few decades, Reiki has increased in popularity in the U.S. as an alternative treatment for stress, musculoskeletal issues, and chronic and acute pain 2,3, even being adopted as a routine part of patient services by almost a fifth of American hospitals in 2007 4. As public interest in holistic healing and care-based models of pain management continues to increase 5, so too does the need to empirically validate the usefulness of alternative therapies such as Reiki. One preliminary study published by Holistic Nursing Practice in 2017 conducted a blinded, three-armed, randomized, placebo-controlled trial to examine the impact of Reiki on the pain, stress, and anxiety levels of hospital patients undergoing a major surgery.

Participants consisted of 46 hospital patients (aged 50 to 85) who were scheduled for a total single knee replacement. Random assignment involved three possible subgroups: (1) Reiki treatment (involving three or four 30-minute Reiki sessions performed by a Master-Level Reiki practitioner, plus Standard of Care (SOC)), (2) Placebo (involving three or four 30-minute Sham Reiki sessions performed by an untrained practitioner of Reiki, plus SOC), and (3) Standard of Care (involving three or four sessions of “quiet time”, plus SOC). All participants were treated one hour prior to surgery and then at 24, 48, and 72 hours following surgery (depending on individual discharge time). Before and after all treatment sessions, participants completed self-report measures of pain and anxiety and were measured for blood pressure level (BP) and respiration rate (RR).

Comparing across all groups, only the Reiki condition showed significant improvements in the areas tested from pre-intervention to post-intervention at 48 hours:

Pain Level: Pain scores decreased from 4.11 +/- 0.72 to 1.40 +/- 0.40 (p = 0.003)

State Anxiety: Sores on anxiety state decreased from 39.1 +/- 3.3 to 32.1 +/- 2.7 (p = 0.004) (including some participants who were discharged at 72 hours post-surgery)

Blood Pressure: Systolic BP decreased from 143.1 +/- 3.9 mm Hg to 115.2 +/- 5.9 mm Hg (p < 0.001), diastolic BP decreased from 74.3 +/- 2.1 mm Hg to 60.4 +/- 2.8 mm Hg (p < 0.001)

Respiration Rate: RR decreased from 20.1 +/- 0.5 breath/min to 17.7 +/- 0.5 breath/min (p = 0.008)

Patients in the Reiki group also showed the lowest need for narcotic pain medication, which, along with evidence for diminished stress and anxiety, demonstrates that Reiki therapy can significantly enhance pain management and boost post-operative recovery. Its particular efficacy with a surgical procedure known to require strong pain medicine suggests that energy therapies like Reiki produce discernable results beyond just placebo effects. Further exploration of mind-body-spirit therapies are, therefore, necessary.

Source: Baldwin AL, Vitale A, Brownell E, et al. Effects of Reiki on pain, anxiety, and blood pressure in patients undergoing knee replacement. Holistic Nursing Practice. 2017; 31(2): 80-89. DOI: 10.1097/HNP.0000000000000195.

Copyright © 2017 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc 

Posted May 25, 2017.

Angeline A. De Leon, MA, graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2010, completing a bachelor’s degree in psychology, with a concentration in neuroscience. She received her master’s degree from The Ohio State University in 2013, where she studied clinical neuroscience within an integrative health program.

References:

  1. NIH. Statistics on Complementary and Integrative Health Approaches. Statistics on complementary and integrative health care. Available at: https://nccih.nih.gov/research/statistics. Accessed May 11, 2017, 2017.
  2. Barnes PM, Bloom B, Nahin RL. Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults and children: United States, 2007. US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics Hyattsville, MD; 2008.
  3. Tindle HA, Davis RB, Phillips RS, Eisenberg DM. Trends in use of complementary and alternative medicine by US adults: 1997-2002. Alternative therapies in health and medicine. 2005;11(1):42.
  4. Gill L. More Hospitals Offer Alternative Therapies for Mind Body, Spirit. USA Today. September 14, 2008, 2008.

5.   Rand WL. The Reiki Touch. Boulder, CO: Sounds True; 2005.