Pre-operative education and counselling are associated with reduced anxiety symptoms following carotid endarterectomy: a randomized and open-label study

Abstract

Post-operative anxiety is common and may have significant impact on the post-operative recovery of the patients. Theatre nurse visits before surgery has been shown to reduce patient's anxiety levels following general surgery. To investigate the effect of pre-operative visits and counselling by intensive care unit (ICU) nurses on patient's anxiety levels following carotid endarterectomy. This is an open-label and randomized clinical trial. Patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy were divided into study (n=60) and control group (n=60). For the study group, in addition to routine pre-operational counselling by the surgeons, ICU nurses visited the patients and provided a structured counselling the day before surgery. For the control group, only routine pre-operative counselling was provided. Anxiety levels were assessed by Zung self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) the day before surgery and on the day after being discharged from ICU to the ward. The two groups were comparable in age, sex, surgical methods, and duration of ICU stays. Following the surgery, the mean SAS score in the control group increased from 50.5±5.4 to 58.5±7.3 (p=0.03), whereas the mean SAS score in the study group reduced from 51.5±4.3 to 45.1±6.5 (p=0.02). The proportion of patients with anxiety symptoms in the control group was higher than in the study group following the surgery (58.3% vs. 33.3%, p=0.001). Pre-operative visits and counselling by ICU nurses could reduce patient's anxiety levels following carotid endarterectomy.