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 patients' demographic data and questions relating to fears about regional anaesthesia. Post-operatively patients were assessed if they were satisfied. The data were analyzed 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 the 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 regional anesthesia