The effects of intraday operation time on pain and anxiety of patients undergoing septoplasty

Abstract 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 8:00 am (morning group); other 49 were operated at 03:00 pm (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.