Assessment of Anxiety, Pain and Quality of Life Among Patients Undergoing Nail Surgery

Aims: Nail surgery is a part of dermatological surgery and can cause a lot of anxiety in patients. The aims of this study is to determine the anxiety and pain levels of the patients before, during and after nail surgery and to determine their effects on their lives. Methods: Patients aged> 14 years who were admitted to our outpatient clinic between April 2019-2020 and scheduled for nail surgery were included in the study. Anxiety (Instant and Trait Anxiety Scale (STAI)), dermatological quality of life (Skindex-16) and pain (Visual analogue scale (VAS 0–10)) were recorded before, during and after nail surgery. Results: The patients were most worried about the recurrence of their disease after the procedure (54.17%). Skindex-16 scores in the 31-50 age group were statistically significantly higher than the other age groups. Preoperative anxiety scores were higher in male patients compared to females (p = 0.021). Preoperative anxiety was significantly lower in patients who had previous nail surgery (p = 0.018). Preoperative pain scores were negatively correlated with preoperative anxiety (p = 0.048). Conclusion: Nail surgery is a procedure that can cause anxiety and stress for patients. Being aware of the anxiety and pain of patients due to surgery and the factors affecting them by the dermatologic surgeon can change the attitudes and behaviors towards patients and the measures to be taken for anxiety and pain can accelerate the recovery of patients.