An interventional study of heat application and shoulder support pillow in Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy and Shoulder Pain, sponsored by Saglik Bilimleri Universitesi. Enrolling by invitation at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye). Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-03.
Sponsored by Saglik Bilimleri Universitesi · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether heat application combined with a shoulder support pillow reduces shoulder pain in adults (18 years and older) who undergo elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy and develop shoulder pain within the first 2 hours after surgery. The main questions it aims to answer are:
Does heat application with a shoulder support pillow reduce postoperative shoulder pain scores during the first 24 hours after surgery? Does it reduce incision pain and the amount of analgesics used within 24 hours after surgery?
Researchers will compare patients receiving heat application and a shoulder support pillow with patients receiving routine postoperative care only, to see if the intervention lowers shoulder pain, incision pain and analgesic consumption.
Participants will be randomly assigned to the intervention group or the control group.
Participants in the intervention group will:
Receive heat application with a towel-wrapped thermal gel pack (maximum 40°C) to the right trapezius and upper scapular region for 20 minutes at postoperative hours 2, 4, 6 and 8 Use a fiber-filled shoulder support pillow under the right shoulder and arm for 24 hours after surgery, except during mobilization
Participants in the control group will:
Receive no study intervention and will receive routine postoperative care only
All participants in both groups will:
Rate their shoulder pain and incision pain on a 0-10 Numerical Rating Scale at postoperative hours 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 20 and 24 Have their analgesic use during the first 24 hours after surgery recorded
728 studies on the registry are indexed under Shoulder Pain; 152 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 142 is above the median of 60 across 581 interventional studies indexed under Shoulder Pain.
Browse Shoulder Pain studies →Saglik Bilimleri Universitesi is the lead sponsor of 452 studies on the registry; 141 are open to participants now.
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Exclusion Criteria:
Heat application will be applied to the trapezius muscle and the upper scapular region for 20 minutes at postoperative hours 2, 4, 6 and 8. For heat application, a 26x35 cm self-fabric-covered thermal gel pack will be heated in a microwave oven at medium heat for 15 seconds, wrapped in a towel at a maximum temperature of 40 degrees, and applied to the patient. The patient's skin will be checked throughout the application. The shoulder support pillow will be used for 24 hours from the moment the patient is transferred to the bed after surgery, except when the patient is mobilized.
Other: heat application and shoulder support pillow
Receive no study intervention and will receive routine postoperative care only
Heat application will be applied to the trapezius muscle and the upper scapular region for 20 minutes at postoperative hours 2, 4, 6 and 8. For heat application, a 26x35 cm self-fabric-covered thermal gel pack will be heated in a microwave oven at medium heat for 15 seconds, wrapped in a towel at a maximum temperature of 40 degrees, and applied to the patient. The patient's skin will be checked throughout the application. The shoulder support pillow will be used for 24 hours from the moment the patient is transferred to the bed after surgery, except when the patient is mobilized
Shoulder and incision pain at 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 20, and 24 hours postoperatively.
This will be scored using the 0-10 Numerical Rating Scale.
Time frame: Shoulder and incision pain during the first 24 postoperative hours.
the amount of analgesic used during the first 24 hours postoperatively
The amount of analgesics used by the patients during 24 hours will be recorded
Time frame: The amount of analgesics during the first 24 postoperative hours.
Plan to share: Undecided — undecided
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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