Effect of Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation on Anxiety and Hemodynamic Response in Patients Undergoing Surgery: A Double-Blind Controlled Clinical Trial

Pre-op anxiety has adverse effects on the patientchr('39')s anesthesia and treatment. Currently, electrical interventions are widely used as non-invasive methods to control pre-op anxiety and may have advantages as compared with medical therapies. This study aimed to determine the effect of transcranial alternating current stimulation on anxiety and hemodynamic response of patients undergoing surgery.

This study enrolled 50 patients undergoing surgery with anesthesia class (Ι). Before surgery, the experimental group received a transcranial alternating current stimulation for 20 min. The control group underwent a sham electrical stimulation. The post-test was done 2 hr after the intervention and before surgery. The independent t-test, Chi-square and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests were used to compare groups. The data were analyzed by SPSS v.16.

There were no significant differences in demographic variables between the groups. Patients’ anxiety level was not significantly different before the intervention between the groups. However, anxiety level of the experimental group was less than that of the control group after the intervention (P= 0.005). The pre-op systolic blood pressure and heart rate were less in the experimental group as compared with the control group
(respectively P<0.001, P=0.001). A positive and significant correlation was observed between two variables of anxiety level and the pre-op need for information (P=0.00).

The results of the present study indicated that transcranial alternating current stimulation is
effective on reducing pre-op anxiety and stability of hemodynamic response of patients. Furthermore, training patients and furnishing them with information before surgery can reduce their anxiety.