Effect of lavender on episiotomy wound healing and pain relief: A systematic review

Background: Perineal pain is the most common post-episiotomy complication, and delay in episiotomy wound healing can lead to infection. Linalool and linalyl acetate are the most effective compounds of lavender. The present systematic review was performed on the effect of lavender on episiotomy wound healing and pain relief. Aim: Systematic review of clinical trials to determine the effect of lavender on episiotomy wound healing and pain relief Method: In the present study, the research question was determined based on PICO, and search process to screen the related articles was conducted on electronic databases of SID, Iran Medex, Pubmed, EMBASE, Scopus, Science Direct, and Google Scholar using English keywords and Persian equivalents of Episiotomy, healing, Pain, Lavender, and Complementary Medicine from inception until March 2020. Inclusion criteria entailed randomized human clinical trials published in Persian and English on the effect of lavender on episiotomy wound healing and pain relief with a Jadad score of 3≥ Irrelevant, duplicate, descriptive, or qualitative studies were excluded. Cochrane risk-of-bias tool was used for the quality assessment of included articles. Results: Out of 143 articles found in the primary search, five clinical trials were systematically reviewed. All five studies examined the effect of lavender essential oil on episiotomy pain relief, while the effect of lavender essential oil on episiotomy wound healing was measured only in three studies. Implications for Practice: Lavender essential oil (sitz bath twice daily) can be suggested as the treatment of choice in episiotomy wound healing and pain relief. Further studies are suggested to obtain stronger scientific evidence on the effective dose, complications, and the feasibility of meta-analysis.