Last Updated on February 3, 2026 by MASSAGE Magazine
Postoperative pain and emotional distress are common challenges following major abdominal surgery, particularly when procedures are performed to remove suspected cancerous lesions. While medications remain the primary method for managing postoperative discomfort, interest has grown in supportive therapies that may ease pain and distress without adding physiological burden.
Research published examined whether massage therapy and vibration-based interventions could improve short-term postoperative outcomes for women recovering from abdominal laparotomy. The study explored whether these noninvasive approaches could reduce pain and distress when used alongside standard medical care.
Overview of the Study
The study, titled “Effects of Adjunctive Swedish Massage and Vibration Therapy on Short-Term Postoperative Outcomes: A Randomized, Controlled Trial,” evaluated the impact of massage therapy and vibration therapy as adjuncts to usual postoperative care.
Researchers focused on short-term outcomes following surgery, with particular attention to different dimensions of pain and psychological distress.
Who Participated in the Research?
The study included 105 women, aged 18 and older, who underwent an abdominal laparotomy for the removal of suspected malignant lesions. Most procedures involved ovarian masses, placing participants in a category of patients experiencing both surgical trauma and the emotional stress associated with potential cancer diagnoses.
Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups to allow for comparison between interventions and standard care.
Treatment Groups and Interventions
Usual Postoperative Care
One group received standard postoperative care alone, serving as the control condition for the study.
Massage Therapy Plus Usual Care
Participants in the massage group received a 45-minute session of Swedish massage. Massage was administered after surgery and repeated at the same time on the following two postoperative days. Techniques were gentle and standardized to maintain consistency across participants.
Vibration Therapy Plus Usual Care
Participants assigned to vibration therapy received 20 minutes of standardized physiotones therapy on the evening following surgery and again at the same time on the next two postoperative days.
Physiotones therapy delivers vibration through inaudible, low-frequency sound waves that resonate through a mattress into both superficial and deep tissues. This modality is designed to stimulate tissue without direct manual manipulation.
What Outcomes Were Measured?
The researchers evaluated three primary outcomes to assess the effects of the interventions.
Sensory Pain
Sensory pain refers to the physical characteristics of pain, including location, intensity, and timing of noxious stimuli. Participants rated sensory pain on a scale of 0 to 10.
Affective Pain
Affective pain reflects the emotional and unpleasant aspects of pain—the suffering associated with the experience rather than its physical characteristics. This dimension was also rated on a 0 to 10 scale.
Psychological Distress
Distress was measured using an 11-point rating scale and reflected emotional discomfort, anxiety, and psychological strain related to the postoperative experience.
Findings on the Day of Surgery
On the day of surgery, massage therapy demonstrated significant benefits.
Massage was significantly more effective than usual postoperative care alone in reducing both sensory pain and affective pain. When compared with vibration therapy, massage was also significantly more effective in reducing affective pain, suggesting a stronger influence on the emotional experience of pain.
These findings indicate that gentle massage may provide immediate relief in both the physical and emotional dimensions of postoperative discomfort.
Findings on the Second Postoperative Day
By the second day after surgery, massage therapy continued to show advantages.
Massage was significantly more effective than usual care in reducing distress and was significantly more effective than vibration therapy in reducing sensory pain. These results suggest that massage may offer continued benefits beyond the immediate postoperative period.
Vibration therapy also demonstrated benefits during this phase. It was found to be significantly more effective than usual care alone in reducing sensory pain and distress, indicating that non-touch, vibration-based interventions may still provide meaningful support.
Overall Trends and Statistical Considerations
After controlling for multiple comparisons and outcomes, the researchers did not find statistically significant differences among the three groups in multivariate analyses. However, the authors emphasized an observable trend favoring massage therapy.
Although the measured effects were small, massage consistently performed better than usual care and vibration therapy across several outcomes. The authors concluded that massage therapy showed a pattern of benefit worthy of consideration, even when statistical significance was not maintained across all analyses.
Interpreting the Results
The findings suggest that adjunctive Swedish massage may have modest, short-term effects on postoperative sensory pain, affective pain, and psychological distress in women undergoing abdominal laparotomy.
Importantly, these effects occurred without interfering with standard medical care. While massage did not replace conventional pain management strategies, it appeared to complement them by addressing both physical discomfort and emotional distress.
Implications for Postoperative and Integrative Care
Abdominal surgery, particularly when associated with suspected malignancy, places patients under significant physical and emotional strain. Interventions that can ease discomfort without adding risk are valuable in this context.
This study supports the use of gentle massage therapy as a supportive option in postoperative care settings. Vibration therapy also demonstrated potential benefits, though massage showed a more consistent trend toward improved outcomes.
Massage as a Supportive Tool After Surgery
The study “Effects of Adjunctive Swedish Massage and Vibration Therapy on Short-Term Postoperative Outcomes” suggests that massage therapy may modestly reduce postoperative pain and distress when used alongside usual medical care.
Although effects were small and not uniformly statistically significant, the consistent trend favoring massage highlights its potential role as a supportive, noninvasive therapy for women recovering from abdominal surgery. In environments where pain, anxiety, and emotional stress are common, gentle massage offers a low-risk option that may improve the postoperative experience.
Source: University of Virginia Health System’s Center for the Study of Complementary and Alternative Therapies, Cancer Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Department of Health Evaluation Sciences. Authors: Ann Gill Taylor, R.N.; Daniel L. Galper, Ph.D.; Peyton Taylor, M.D.; Laurel W. Rice, M.D.; Willie Andersen, M.D.; William Irvin, M.D.; Xin-Qun Wang; and Frank E. Harrell, Jr., Ph.D. Originally published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2003, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 77-89.