Reality goes under the knife

As they're wheeled into the operating room, some patients may be seeingtranquil shores instead of scrubs and scalpels. That's if they're engaging in guided imagery, a technique that one study has shown makes surgery easier, if not quite a walk on the beach.

The study, published in the Association of Operating Room Nurses Journal, assigned 130 abdominal-surgery patients to one of two groups. Both groups received routine preoperative care, but only one listened to guided imagery tapes (produced by Health Journeys) for three days before and six days after surgery.

With a background of soothing music, the tapes instructed patients to fantasize that they were in calm, beautiful surroundings with someone they loved beside them. They were encouraged to confront fears they might have about the surgery, and to imagine themselves in the operating room itself, undergoing the procedure with little pain or upset. "It's like a directed, deliberate daydream," says lead researcher Diane Tusek, R.N., of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

The results of these flights of fancy were assuredly real: patients who used the tapes were much less anxious and distressed, and reported far less physical pain--so much less, in fact, that they required almost half as much pain medication as the control group. Besides making the surgery a more pleasant experience, these effects may have real health benefits: excessive pain can prolong postoperative recovery time and slow down the immune system, and stress can heighten susceptibility to infection.

It's all in the attitude, says Tusek. "People who approach surgery with a sense of control fare much better than patients who feel anxious or overwhelmed."

A.M.P.

PHOTO (COLOR): Beautiful surrounding

Tags: abdominal surgery, association of operating room nurses, cleveland clinic foundation, control group, daydream, flights of fancy, guided imagery, healing, health journeys, immune system, operating room nurses, photo color, preoperative care, real health, recovery time, relaxation, scalpels, scrubs, six days, soothing music, surgery, surgery patients

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