[Assessing preoperative use of medicinal plants during preanesthetic interviews]

To assess the use of medicinal plant preparations in preanesthetic interviews at a Spanish university hospital.

A total of 500 questionnaires were randomly distributed over a period of 3 months to patients attending a preanesthetic assessment interview.

Of the 431 valid questionnaires returned, 154 (35.73%) were from patients who reported consumption of some type of herbal remedy and 55 (12.76%) were from patients who used a medicinal plant considered in the literature to be potentially toxic. Consumption was higher among women (64.28%) (P < 0.001). Among users of these plants, 137 (88.96%) reported that they did not consider them to be medications and 141 (91.55%) would not have told the anesthesiologist about their use during a routine clinical interview.

There is considerable use of medicinal herbs with potentially adverse interactions with various drugs used during the perioperative period. Anesthesiologists need to be familiar with such herbs and their effects and to ask specific questions about their use during the preanesthetic interview.