Does minimally invasive surgery reduce anxiety?

Evrim Bostancı Ergen,Selçuk Ayas,Çiğdem Abide Yayla,Yaşam Kemal Akpak,Çetin Kılıççı

doi:10.4274/jtgga.galenos.2018.2018.0073

Abstract

Objective:To evaluate whether there were any differences in preoperative and postoperative anxiety in patients who underwent total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH) (n=37) and total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH) (n=37).Material and Methods:All premenopausal patients who underwent TLH or TAH because of benign uterine disorders were enrolled. Anxiety status was assessed 6 hours before and after the operation using standardized validated questionnaires: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.Results:In the TAH group, the state anxiety level of the patients significantly increased, whereas there was a significant decrease in the TLH group. For the trait anxiety level, there was a statistically significant increase in the TAH group postoperatively. In the TLH group, trait anxiety levels decreased postoperatively. In the analysis of between-group differences, pre and postoperative the state anxiety level was higher in the TAH group. A statistically significant difference was determined between the groups in respect of the postoperative state anxiety levels (p<0.05), but not in the preoperative state anxiety levels (p>0.05). Statistically significant differences were determined between the groups in respect of education, occupation, and curettage rates (p<0.05).Conclusion:Women undergoing TLH for benign uterine disease may have lower levels of preoperative and postoperative anxiety than women undergoing TAH.

Highlights

Hysterectomy is the second most common major surgical procedure applied to women of reproductive age and 90% of the procedures are for benign causes [1]
In the last decade in particular, total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH) and total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH) operations have been compared in terms of many factors such as operating time, blood loss during surgery, complication rates, inflammatory response, febrile morbidity, length of stay in hospital, and the requirement for analgesia, but there has been insufficient evaluation in respect of preoperative and postoperative anxiety scores [15]
The postoperative patient status and anxiety were observed to be greater than preoperatively following TAH procedures, a decrease was seen in the postoperative anxiety following TLH procedures compared with the preoperative score

Summary

Introduction

Hysterectomy is the second most common major surgical procedure applied to women of reproductive age and 90% of the procedures are for benign causes [1]. It is known that most patients experience anxiety and fear at different levels before surgery and that anxiety increases during the operation [2,3]. Gynaecologic operations are specific to women, who are more sensitive and emotional so they constitute a specific study group. In this situation, patients fear that their body image will be destroyed, there are concerns related to sexuality, they are anxious about pain, there is the fear of not waking from anaesthesia, and a concern of loss of function [2].

Methods

Results

Conclusion