Research ArticleResearchPatient EducationNew Grad Friendly

Slow deep breathing reduced pain and anxiety during chest-tube removal after CABG

Critical care nursing quarterly (PubMed)Aug 26, 2026

AI-summarized from the linked source. Educational brief, not medical advice.

Brief summary

In a two-hospital randomized study of 80 patients after CABG, slow deep breathing was associated with lower self-reported pain and anxiety during and after chest-tube removal than standard care.

What NurseJet pulled from the source

Forty patients practiced slow deep breathing and 40 received standard care. Mean pain during tube removal was 5.325 with the exercise versus 7.125 with standard care (P < .001); pain after removal and anxiety during and after removal were also significantly lower, although the abstract does not report all corresponding effect sizes.

Why this matters for nurses

Chest-tube removal is brief but often painful and stressful. A coached breathing exercise is a low-resource nursing intervention that may improve the patient's experience when added to the approved analgesia and removal plan.

Bedside takeaway

Coach slow deep breathing as an adjunct to the approved pain-control plan during chest-tube removal after CABG.

How This Applies in Practice

Use this when: Preparing an alert, cooperative patient for chest-tube removal after coronary artery bypass grafting.

On your shift

Explain and briefly rehearse the unit-approved slow deep-breathing sequence before removal.
Coach breathing during the procedure while maintaining standard positioning, monitoring, and analgesia.
Reassess and document pain and anxiety after removal and escalate symptoms outside the expected course.

Keep in mind: Breathing exercises supplement rather than replace analgesia and procedural safeguards. Follow unit protocol, facility policy, and provider orders.

Key takeaways

The randomized study enrolled 80 patients at two hospitals.
Slow deep breathing was tested as an adjunct during chest-tube removal after CABG.
Mean pain during removal was lower with breathing exercises than with standard care.
Anxiety and post-removal pain were also lower, but the abstract does not provide every effect estimate.

Practice implications

Where the unit permits it, explain and rehearse slow deep breathing before removal, coach the patient through the procedure, and reassess pain and anxiety afterward. Treat it as an adjunct, not a replacement for prescribed analgesia or procedural monitoring.

Limitations & cautions

The trial was small and conducted at two hospitals, with self-reported pain and anxiety. The abstract does not describe blinding, the exact breathing protocol, all effect sizes, analgesic use, or longer-term outcomes, limiting transfer to other settings.
AI-summarized from the linked source. Review the original article before applying to practice.

Citations

Exact source links

Open source

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Critical care nursing quarterly (PubMed)

Critical care nursing quarterly (PubMed). The Effect of Slow Deep Breathing Relaxation Exercise on Pain and Anxiety Levels During and Post-Chest Tube Removal After CABG.

Open original source

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42659658/

Professional education only

This summary does not replace clinical judgment, facility policy, provider orders, or official guidelines. Verify practice changes against the original source and local protocol.

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