DOCTOR-PATIENT COMMUNICATION DURING REGIONAL ANESTHESIA

From the psychological point of view, regional anesthesia is something special because the patient experiences his operation consciously. This means that the anesthetist is required not only to guarantee a safe anesthetic, but also to recognize the special needs of the patients, to enter into them adequately, and thus to support the patient's own strategies for coping with his situation. The question arises as to what extent the anesthetist's behavior meets the patient's psychological requirements. For this reason, the conversation between patient and anesthetist was monitored during 17 operations under regional anesthesia and investigated by means of a quantitative speech analysis. It was shown that the anesthetist clearly predominated in the course of the conversation: particularly during the time when the patient was preparing himself for the operation, it was the anesthetist who actively framed the communication by numerous questions and conversational activities while the patient responsively remains passive. The anesthetist spoke simply and clearly to the patient. Prime consideration was given to explaining the anesthetic procedure and the operation. There were not many attempts by the physician to also deal with the patient's psychic state. On the while, communication was concerned with the quick and easy performance of anesthesia. This was also demonstrated by the fact that conversation between the anesthetist and the patient was nearly absent during the operation.