Effect Of Alprazolam On Intraoperative Pain And Patient Satisfaction With Refractive Surgeries

To investigate the effect of preoperative alprazolam administration on intraoperative pain perception and general satisfaction with refractive surgery.

Care Vision Laser Center, Tel Aviv, Israel.

Patients undergoing routine refractive surgery were asked to fill out pre- and postoperative questionnaires as part of a routine quality audit. The questionnaires evaluated patients’ preoperative anxiety state, perceptions of preoperative waiting time, perception of surgery duration, intraoperative pain, and general satisfaction with the surgical experience. We compared the answers to the questionnaires between consecutive patients who received alprazolam and those who did not receive alprazolam preoperatively.

A total of 166 patients were included in this study. The average age of the patients was 28±9 years, and most patients were male (56.6%). Moderate-to-severe intraoperative pain was reported by 76 patients (45.7%). Alprazolam was administered to 54 patients (32.5%). Perceptions of intraoperative pain (p=0.04), perception of preoperative waiting time (p=0.01), and perception of surgery duration (p=0.005) were significantly better in patients who received alprazolam. patient who received alprazolam reported better surgical experience than patients who did not (p<0.001).

Alprazolam administration before refractive surgery may improve patient satisfaction by reducing patient perceptions of preoperative waiting time, intraoperative pain, and surgery duration.