Abstract
ObjectivesThe diagnosis and the surgical removal of a brain tumor can have serious impact on the quality of life of a patient. The question rises, whether having more or just less memories of the procedure is better for coping with such an event. Furthermore, for preoperative information of future patients it is important to know how patients process their emotions and memories. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the link between preoperative anxiety, the perioperative experience and the quantity and quality of postoperative memories in patients who underwent intracranial tumor surgery. Patients and methodsThis study was a retrospective observational study; all patients who underwent intracranial tumor surgery at the Erasmus Medical Centre Rotterdam between January 1st 2014 and December 31st 2015 were identified. In May 2016, all patients who were not registered as deceased were sent a questionnaire about their anxieties, perceptions and memories of the perioperative period. ResultsIn total 476 patients were included. 272 patients responded, which resulted in a response rate of 57.14%. In the general anesthesia (GA) group there was a significant negative correlation between anxiety in the perioperative period and the quantity and quality of memories. In the awake craniotomy group, there was a significant negative correlation between anxiety after the operation and the quantity of memories. ConclusionPatients in the GA group who experienced anxiety in the perioperative period had less quantity and quality of memories and less patient satisfaction. Patients in the AC group who experienced anxiety after the operation had only a lower quantity of the memory; there was no correlation with patient satisfaction.
Highlights
The diagnosis of a brain tumor and the surgical removal of this tumor can have serious impact on the quality of life of the patient
We found no significant differences in quantity and quality of the memories in the general anesthesia group between patients who had a pituitary adenoma, which was transspheniodally resected, and patients who underwent a standard craniotomy
We found selective aspects of unpleasant memories like the urinary catheter especially in men and pain in both sexes, which should be addressed better in pre-operative consulting and postoperative management to further increase patient satisfaction
Summary
The diagnosis of a brain tumor and the surgical removal of this tumor can have serious impact on the quality of life of the patient. As patient centered care and value-based health care have become increasingly important, information about the quality of postoperative recovery and management of patient expectations are especially relevant [1,2] Patients may undergo this procedure awake or under general anesthesia (GA), which has impact on the quantity, but possibly on the quality of the memories about the perioperative period. A few earlier studies investigated patient experience of patients who underwent an awake craniotomy (AC) [3,4,5] These studies showed that according to the patients’ memories this anesthesia technique is well tolerated by the patients, but still can have considerable impact. This impact did reflect on the direct perioperative period, and on the period of recovery and rehabilitation after the procedure
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