Background and Purpose: Postoperative pain is common in gastric cancer patients and may affect recovery and quality of life. While opioids are widely used, non-pharmacological interventions have emerged as potential alternatives. However, their relative effectiveness remains unclear. Therefore, this protocol describes a systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) to evaluate and rank non-pharmacological interventions for postoperative pain in gastric cancer patients. Methods: Nine electronic databases will be searched up to February 2026. Randomized controlled trials comparing non-pharmacological interventions for postoperative pain will be included. Primary outcomes will be pain intensity; secondary outcomes will include analgesic consumption, quality of life, and adverse events. Results: Through this network meta-analysis protocol, we will directly and indirectly compare all non-pharmacological nursing interventions and rank their probability of effectiveness. We expect to identify the most effective non-pharmacological or combination of interventions for postoperative pain in gastric cancer patients. Conclusion: This review aims to summarize available evidence and inform the selection of non-pharmacological pain management strategies for gastric cancer patients. Keywords: postoperative pain, gastric cancer, non-pharmacological interventions, systematic review, network meta-analysis
Lei et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
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