The Effect of Pre- and Intraoperative Anxiety on Hemodynamic Changes after Spinal Anaesthesia in Cesarean Section

Preoperative anxiety affects outcomes of anesthesia and surgery. Hypotension is a common and major complication after spinal anesthesia, which may delay post-anesthetic care unit (PACU) discharge, prolong hospital stay, and increase the cost of hospitalization. Thus, we sought to determine the effect of pre- and intraoperative anxiety on hemodynamic changes after spinal anesthesia in cesarean section.
This descriptive analytical study was carried out among 100 patients admitted to Fatemieh Hospital of Hamadan in 2016. The participants were chosen through convenience sampling method. Spielberger’s questionnaire and Visual Analogue Scale were used for assessing preoperative and intraoperative anxiety, respectively. Spinal anesthesia was performed using hyperbaric bupivacaine 10 mg and fentanyl 25 µg. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured at baseline, during surgery, and in the recovery room. Hypotension was treated by the standardized protocol (fluid bolus and ephedrine). The effects of low, medium, and high levels of anxiety were investigated. The data were analyzed by performing Pearson correlation coefficient, Chi-squared test, and Fisher's exact test in SPSS, version 18.
Most of the patients had moderate anxiety level. There were no significant relationships between state and trait anxiety and hypotension and bradycardia (P≥0.05). In addition, there were no significant associations between intraoperative anxiety and hypotension (P=0.275) and bradycardia (P=0.404).
Pre- and intraoperative anxiety have no effect on hemodynamic changes in patients undergoing spinal anesthesia.