This study investigates how traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) nursing influences the alleviation of postoperative pain in individuals undergoing surgery for anorectal conditions. Six databases—three in English (PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library) and three in Chinese (China National Knowledge Internet, Wanfang Data, China Science and Technology Journal Database)—were comprehensively searched for case-control or prospective research assessing TCM-based nursing for postoperative anorectal pain, from their inception to June 20, 2022. The Newcastle–Ottawa Scale was applied to appraise the methodological quality of included observational studies. Outcomes such as Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores, effective pain-relief rate, wound recovery duration, and hospitalization time were synthesized. A total of 15 records met the criteria after screening. The pooled findings indicated that TCM nursing lowered VAS scores (mean difference (MD): 1.15; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.96, –1.06; P < 0.00001) compared with standard postoperative approaches. Longer application of TCM nursing corresponded with further reductions in pain scores. Additionally, TCM interventions improved the pain-relief rate (OR: 4.78; 95% CI: 2.93, 7.79; P < 0.00001) and shortened wound-healing time (MD: 4.44; 95% CI: 5.60, –3.27; P < 0.00001) as well as hospital stay (MD: 4.87; 95% CI: 5.93, –3.82; P < 0.00001). Traditional Chinese medicine nursing plays a beneficial role in postoperative outcomes for anorectaldisease patients, notably in reducing short-term postoperative discomfort. Nonetheless, variation in TCM nursing protocols may introduce heterogeneity.
