Effect of Elastic Abdominal Binder on Pain and Functional Recovery Following Gynecologic Cancer Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background and Objectives: Clinicians have been using elastic abdominal binder for stabilizing incision site after major abdominal surgery. However, the benefits of that practice have never been formally assessed. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of the use of elastic abdominal binder on postoperative pain and recovery of gynecologic cancer patients. Materials and Methods: One-hundred and nine women diagnosed with cervical, endometrial, or ovarian cancer, who underwent open abdominal surgery were assigned randomly into two groups: intervention (56 patients) and control (53 patients). The women in the intervention group applied abdominal binder from postoperative day 1. For the control group, the women did not wear the binder or similar devices. The primary outcomes were pain and functional recovery. Subgroup analysis on participants age ≥ 50 was also performed. Results: For the entire study cohort, the baseline, postoperative day 1, and postoperative day 2 pain scores in the intervention group were significantly lower than the control group. However, there was no significant difference between the groups for postoperative day 3 pain score and for the change in pain scores from the baseline value. Of note, the age ≥ 50 subgroup represented a more balanced cohort with comparable baseline pain scores between the study groups. For this population, the pain scores for postoperative day 1–3 were significantly lower in the intervention group. The intervention group had a longer six-minute walking distance on postoperative day 3 with a trend toward a smaller difference in the day 3 distance from the baseline. Conclusions: The potential benefits of abdominal binder use in reducing postoperative pain and improving functional recovery after open gynecologic cancer surgery could be demonstrated only in those age ≥ 50.