The power of words: sources of anxiety in patients undergoing local anaesthetic plastic surgery

INTRODUCTION

With local or regional anaesthesia being employed for more as well as more complex surgical procedures, an increasing number of patients remain fully conscious during their operation. This is generally perceived as being advantageous to the patient as less time is spent in hospital and the side effects of general anaesthesia are avoided. However, there is no direct measure of the patient experience during ‘awake surgery’, in particular of which aspects of the process may be distressing.

METHODS

Seventy patients undergoing day case plastic surgery under local anaesthesia were asked to complete a short questionnaire immediately following their operation. This was designed to identify specific factors likely to either increase or reduce anxiety during surgery. The questionnaire was initially validated on a pilot group of ten patients.

RESULTS

Unsurprisingly, painful stimuli such as injections were identified as potential stressors. More interestingly, the data highlighted that some commonly used surgical terms such as ‘knife’ and ‘scalpel’ provoke considerable anxiety in the conscious patient. This varied according to age and sex with younger and female patients being most vulnerable. Other events identified as potential stressors, such as casual conversations and movements among theatre staff, were actually shown to be non-stressful and, in some cases, stress relieving.

CONCLUSIONS

Technical jargon used by surgical staff can elevate anxiety levels among patients who are awake for their operation. Careful consideration of the words we use may reduce this, particularly in female patients.