The Effects of Intraday Operation Time on Pain and Anxiety of Patients Undergoing Septoplasty

Introduction: Anxiety and pain levels of septoplasty patients may vary according to intraday operation time.

Objective: To investigate the effects of septoplasty operation and intraday operation time on anxiety and postoperative pain.

Methods: Ninety-eight voluntary patients filled out the hospital anxiety and depression scale to measure the anxiety level three weeks before, one hour before and one week after surgery. Forty-nine patients were operated at 8:00am (morning group); other 49 were operated at 03:00pm (afternoon group). We used a visual analogue scale to measure postoperative pain. Preoperative and postoperative scores were compared, as were the scores of the groups.

Results: Median hospital anxiety and depression scale scores one hour before the operation [6 (2-10)] were significantly higher compared to the median scores three weeks before the operation [3 (1-6)] (p< 0.001), and one week after the operation [2 (1-6)] were significantly lower compared to the median scores three weeks before the operation [3 (1-6)] (p< 0.001). Hospital anxiety and depression scale scores one hour before the operation were significantly greater in the afternoon group [8 (7-10)], compared to the morning group [4 (2-6)] (p< 0.001). Postoperative first, sixth, twelfth and twenty-fourth-hour pain visual analogue scale scores were significantly higher in the afternoon group compared to the morning group (p< 0.001).

Conclusion: Septoplasty might have an increasing effect on short-term anxiety and postoperative pain. Performing this operation at a late hour in the day might further increase anxiety and pain. However, the latter has no long-term effect on anxiety.