Perioperative Anxiety

Perioperative anxiety includes fear, nervousness, tension, and worry related to disease, anaesthesia, surgery, and recovery. Anxiety can increase cortisol, angiotensin, and catecholamines, contributing to haemodynamic abnormalities. Perioperative anxiety can trigger physiological stress responses that affect anaesthesia, surgery, and recovery. Anxiety is associated with worse postoperative outcomes including pain, delayed wound healing, infection risk, cognitive decline, delirium, delayed ambulation, and longer hospital stay. Older surgical patients are considered high risk for perioperative anxiety because of age, comorbidities, loneliness, and weaker social support.