The Effect of Preprocedural Anxiety on General Anesthesia Management: A Case Report

Preoperative anxiety occurs in many surgical patients and yet there are no clear recommendations on how to provide the best evidence-based care to these patients during a general anesthetic. The following case report describes a complex case of a 35-year-old female who presented for imaging under general anesthesia with high preoperative anxiety. She displayed fluctuations in hemodynamics, an increased induction dose of propofol, and vasopressor support throughout the intraoperative phase of care. This case report describes the current evidence for considerations of high anxiety operative patients, which may include an increased induction and total dose of propofol, increased analgesic requirement, and an individualized preoperative assessment to establish a baseline anxiety level and proper education.