A preoperative theatre visit to reduce the anxiety: A randomized
controlled trial at Colombo South Teaching Hospital
Abstract
Objective Hypothesis: Exposure of the patient to a theatre setting prior
to surgery reduced the preoperative anxiety and adverse outcomes.
Design: Single-center randomized controlled trial Setting: Professorial
Gynecology Unit, Colombo South Teaching Hospital, Sri Lanka Sample: 64
adult patients. Methods: The patients were randomized and the
intervention arm was given a pre-operative visit with an informative
session regarding the surgery. These patients were assessed using an
interviewer-administered questionnaire. The Statistical Package for
Social Sciences (SPSS-17) was used to analyze the data. Main Outcome
measures: Anxiety level before surgery, at the time of surgery and
post-surgery, pre-induction parameters, and pain score. Results APAIS
average combined anxiety level before the intervention was 10.19 ± 3.872
for the intervention group and 10.53 ± 4.303 for the control. This is on
the day of the surgery after the intervention was 8.25 in the
intervention group and 8.75 in the control. The reduction of anxiety as
per HADS and VAS after surgery for the intervention group was 3.28 and
2.41 respectively, this is for control was 2.72 and 2.28. The pain score
at 6 hours after surgery was 5.04 for the intervention group and 6.08
for the control. Conclusion Preoperative theatre visit prior to surgery
made no significant difference in the patient’s anxiety, though a trend
in reduction of pain and anxiety noted. Trial Registration Sri Lankan
Clinical Trial Registry (Registration No: SLCTR/2019/015)
https://slctr.lk/trials/slctr-2019-015.