Adding aromatherapy to recovery protocol may decrease postoperative anxiety and pain

The study findings support using aromatherapy as an adjuvant analgesic/anxiolytic. Image credit: ©Botamochy – stock.adobe.com

Aromatherapy may be a useful addition to help patients who are undergoing oculoplastic procedures under monitored anesthetic sedation. In this study, the use of aromatherapy resulted in lower postoperative anxiety and pain scores,¹ according to patient reporting.

First author Michael Chang, MD, from Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV, and colleagues reported their results in Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

The investigators conducted a randomised controlled trial that included 60 patients who underwent monitored anaesthesia care sedation for oculoplastic procedures from August 2018 to November 2020.

A total of 32 patients were randomised to an aromatherapy and 28 to placebo. Anxiety was measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and visual analogue scale for anxiety, and pain was measured with a visual analogue scale for pain, the authors recounted.

They reported that the patients randomised to aromatherapy had significantly lower scores for both parameters measured postoperatively. The patient and control scores on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory state anxiety scale were, respectively, 24.1 and 29.1, and the respective visual analogue scale pain scores were 1.9 and 3.2 (P = 0.05 for both comparisons).

In addition, the patients randomised to aromatherapy also had shorter stays in the post-anaesthesia care unit compared with the control patients, ie, 57.7 and 79.4 minutes, respectively (P = 0.03).

Dr Chang and colleagues concluded, “The patients who received aromatherapy reported lower postoperative anxiety and pain. Aromatherapy may be a useful adjuvant analgesic and/or anxiolytic for patients undergoing oculoplastic procedures with monitored anesthesia care sedation.”

Reference

1. Chang M, Schaefer J, Leonard A, et al. The effect of aromatherapy on anxiety and pain in patients undergoing oculoplastic surgery. Ophthalmic Plast Reconstr Surg. 2024;40:677-680; DOI: 10.1097/IOP.0000000000002692