Effects of the preoperative anxiety and depression on the postoperative pain in rhinoplasty and septoplasty patients

Objective: Anxiety and depressive disorders can be widespread among patients who are being treated in surgical clinics and they can affect operation outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the level of their anxiety and depression in the preoperative period and the pain level in the postoperative period in rhinoplasty and septoplasty patients. Material and methods: This study included 57 (51.8%) patients (rhinoplasty group) with external nasal deformity and 53 (48.2%) patients (septoplasty group) with septum deviation. These patients filled out the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, sociodemographic data evaluation form before the surgery. Pain severity was rated by Visual Analogue Scale on the 1st postoperative day and before being discharged from the hospital by the patients. Results: The mean depression score of all patients was 6.35 +/- 3.52 (range 1-15). The mean depression scores were 6.31 +/- 3.8 (range 1-15) in the rhinoplasty group and 6.37 +/- 3.2 (range 1-14) in the septoplasty group. There was no significant difference between the depression scores of two groups (t=0.091, p=0.927, P>0.05). The mean anxiety score of all patients was 6.5 +/- 3.38 (range 0-16). The mean anxiety scores were 6.73 +/- 3.34 (range 0-16) in the rhinoplasty group, and 6.24 +/- 3.44 (range 0-16) in the septoplasty group. There was no significant difference between the anxiety scores of two groups (t=0.75, p=0.049, P>0.05). There was minimum positive correlation between the anxiety and depression level of the all subjects and 1st postoperative day Visual Analogue Scale score (r=0.05, p>0.05). There was a minimum positive correlation between the anxiety and depression level of the all subjects and before being discharged from the hospital Visual Analogue Scale score (r=0.06, p>0.05). But these correlations were not statistically significant. Conclusion: The result of this study in this patient group showed that the presence of anxiety and depression preoperatively in septoplasty and rhinoplasty patients had not affected the pain level postoperatively.