Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jul 31;15(1):27895.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-09399-9.

Effectiveness of a nurse-led pain management model following TACE: a retrospective analysis

Yili Qu  1 , Haizhi Xu  2 , Xianjun Guo  3 , Chunyan Zhang  1 , Bei Xu  4
Affiliations

Effectiveness of a nurse-led pain management model following TACE: a retrospective analysis

Yili Qu et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of a nurse-led pain management model in patients undergoing transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) for primary liver cancer. The model included four key components: (1) dynamic pain assessment using the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS); (2) individualized non-pharmacological comfort interventions; (3) early mobilization support; and (4) patient education and post-discharge follow-up. The objective was to determine whether this structured nursing model could improve postoperative outcomes compared to conventional care. This retrospective study included 90 patients who underwent c-TACE for primary liver cancer at our hospital. Patients were divided into two groups: the control group (n = 45, May-July 2023) received standard care, while the experimental group (n = 45, August-October 2023) received the nurse-led pain management model in addition to standard care. NRS scores were recorded at 24 and 72 h postoperatively, and comfort, satisfaction, and complication rates were assessed on the day of discharge. Baseline characteristics were comparable between the two groups. At 24 h post-TACE, NRS scores showed no significant difference between the experimental (4.58 ± 1.12) and control (4.69 ± 1.05) groups (P = 0.648). However, by 72 h, the experimental group had significantly lower NRS scores (2.58 ± 0.79 vs. 3.62 ± 0.91, P < 0.001). Comfort and satisfaction scores were significantly higher in the experimental group (P < 0.01), while the overall complication rate was lower (P < 0.05). The nurse-led structured pain management model significantly improved pain control, patient comfort, and satisfaction while reducing postoperative complications. This scalable approach may serve as an effective adjunct to conventional postoperative care following TACE.

Keywords: Dynamic pain assessment; Early mobilization; Follow-up care; Non-pharmacologic intervention; Nurse-led model; Postoperative pain; Primary liver cancer; Transarterial chemoembolization.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Naval Military Medical University (Approval No. Lenco Grant [2024] No. 051). The ethics committee reviewed and approved all study documents and procedures, including a waiver of informed consent, in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, Good Clinical Practice (GCP), the ICH-GCP guidelines, and the relevant Chinese national regulations, such as the “Methods for Ethical Review of Biomedical Research Involving Human Beings (2016)” and “Quality Management Standards for Clinical Trials (2020).” Given the retrospective nature of the study, the requirement for signed informed consent was waived. All data were collected anonymously to ensure participant confidentiality and privacy. The approval is valid from May 14, 2024, to May 14, 2026. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Song, P., Wang, J., Wang, T., Zou, H. & Liu, Y. Creating and testing a model to predict postoperative discomfort in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma receiving transarterial chemoembolisation. Hepat. Mon.10.5812/hepatmon-133918 (2023).
    1. Kobori, I. et al. Post-embolization syndrome-like symptoms due to shedding of necrotic material of hepatocellular carcinoma into the bile duct following transcatheter arterial chemoembolization: an instructive case. Clin. J. Gastroenterol.10.1007/s12328-024-01932-z (2024). - PubMed
    1. Du, Q. et al. Incidence and predictors of abdominal pain after transarterial chemoembolization of hepatocellular carcinoma: a single-center retrospective study. Eur. J. Oncol. Nurs.66, 102355. 10.1016/j.ejon.2023.102355 (2023). - PubMed
    1. Lin, J. et al. Epidemiological characteristics of primary liver cancer in Mainland China from 2003 to 2020: a representative multicenter study. Front. Oncol.10.3389/fonc.2022.906778 (2022). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chisthi, M. M. Current research status and future directions of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. World J. Gastrointest. Oncol.17(3), 99068. 10.4251/wjgo.v17.i3.99068 (2025). - PMC - PubMed