The usefulness of bright light therapy for patients after oesophagectomy.

Objectives: The prevention of delirium is an important issue in the field of perioperative nursing. The objective of this study was to verify the usefulness of acute-stage bright light exposure on patients following oesophagectomy.

Methods: The participants were oesophagectomy patients that were removed from their ventilators the day after surgery. After extubation, we assigned the participants to either the exposure group or control group. At Day 2 after surgery, the exposure group underwent two hours of bright light exposure for four days. In both groups, we monitored physical activity and autonomic activity. In addition, we scored the participants on the NEECHAM Scale and evaluated their postoperative delirium and postoperative arrhythmia.

Results: On the nights of Days 4 and 5, the amount of activity of the exposure group was significantly lower and The sympathetic nervous index was significantly lower on the night of Day 5. The level of arrhythmia was lower in the exposure group and we observed a significant difference on the night of Day 4 and the daytime of Day 5 after surgery. The occurrence rate of postoperative delirium tended to be lower in the exposure group, but there was no significant difference. None of the participants in the exposure group had NEECHAM Scale scores below the cut-off value from the night of Day 4 onwards.

Conclusion: We conclude that postoperative bright light exposure adjusted the sleep-wakefulness cycle and improved the bed rest of patients. It was also indicated that bright light therapy is useful for reducing postoperative delirium.