Anxiety is common before surgery and known to negatively impact recovery from surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a preoperative nurse dialogue on a patient's anxiety, satisfaction and early postoperative outcomes.
This 1:1 randomized controlled trial compared patients undergoing major visceral surgery after a semistructured preoperative nurse dialogue (interventional group: IG) to a control group (CG) without nursing intervention prior to surgery. Anxiety was measured with the autoevaluation scale State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI, Y-form) pre and postoperatively. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) In-Patsat32 questionnaire was used to assess patient satisfaction at discharge. Further outcomes included postoperative pain (visual analogue scale: VAS 0-10), postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), opiate consumption and length of stay (LOS).
Over a period of 6 months, 35 participants were randomized to either group with no drop-out or loss to follow-up (total n = 70). The median score of preoperative anxiety was 40 (IQR 33-55) in the IG vs. 61 (IQR 52-68) in the CG (p < 0.001). Postoperative anxiety levels were comparable 34 (IQR 25-46) vs. 32 (IQR 25-44) for IG and CG, respectively (p = 0.579). The IG did not present higher overall satisfaction (90 ± 15 vs. 82.9 ± 16, p = 0.057), and pain at Day 2 was similar (1.3 ± 1.7 vs. 2 ± 1.9, p = 0.077), while opiate consumption, PONV levels and LOS were comparable.
A preoperative dialogue with a patient-centered approach helped to reduce preoperative anxiety in patients undergoing major visceral surgery.