FEARS AND PERCEPTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH REGIONAL ANAESTHESIA IN A TERTIARY INSTITUTION IN NORTH CENTRAL NIGERIA
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Date
2019
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College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone
Abstract
Regional anaesthesia is conducted for many surgical procedures. This study was undertaken prospectively to
access patients fears, perception and satisfaction of regional anaesthesia(RA) in the perioperative period.
It was a prospective cross-sectional survey of 94 patients with American society of anesthesiologist (ASA)
physical status class I and II between the ages 18 and 80 years scheduled for surgery under regional
anaesthesia. After patients consented to the regional anaesthetic technique, the patients were asked to fill a
structured questionnaire composed of the patient's demographic data and questions relating to fears about
regional anaesthesia. Post-operatively patients were assessed if they were satisfied. The data were analysed
using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences [SPSS software version-23].
Ninety-four patients were studied and their responses analysed. The mean age was 39±16.2 and 78.7% were
females. The most common fear observed was fear of loss of control during surgery (58.2%). While patients
had the least fear of postoperative nausea and vomiting(25.5%). Thirteen(13.8%) of patients were dissatisfied
with the regional anaesthesia. The most common reason was due to paresthesia (5.3%). Males had more fear
of back injury from RA(50%), p=0.026. There was a positive correlation between patients satisfaction and
future choice of RA rs=0.320, p=0.002.
Fear of regional anaesthesia is still high in our environment and the level of dissatisfaction with RA is relatively
high. Therefore, there is a need for pre-anaesthetic clinics to provide better understanding of RA
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Keywords
Regional anaesthesia, fear, perceptions