• Mawahib Al-Azawy, Kjersti Oterhals, Bengt Fridlund, Jörg Aßmus, and Peter Schuster.
• Department of Heart Disease, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; Institute of Nursing, Bergen University College, Bergen, Norway. Electronic address: mawahib.tahir.al-azawy@helsebergen.no.
• Appl Nurs Res. 2015 Nov 1; 28 (4): 268-73.

BackgroundPain and discomfort are common during radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for atrial fibrillation.AimsTo compare and evaluate the effect of premedication, standardised preoperative information and preoperative anxiety on pain intensity, drug consumption and patients' satisfaction.MethodsPreoperative anxiety at baseline, pain intensity during RFA, and patient satisfaction after the procedure were measured in 3 random groups. Group A (n=20) received standard pain management, group B (n=20) received premedication and group C (n=20) received premedication and standardised preoperative information.ResultsPatients in groups B and C experienced less pain intensity (p<0.001) and needed fewer anxiolytics (p=0.023) and analgesics (p=0.031) compared to group A. Patient satisfaction was higher in group C (p=0.005) compared to group A. Increased preoperative anxiety is related to elevated drug demand (p<0.05).ConclusionPremedication alone or combined with preoperative information reduces and higher preoperative anxiety increases pain intensity and drug consumption during RFA. Preoperative information improves patient satisfaction.Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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