Comparison of the effects of lavender and diazepam on anxiety level of patients before orthopedic surgery

Waiting for surgery is one of the stressful environmental factors for each patient. Anxiety caused by waiting could have adverse effects on patient treatment and recovery process. Given the complications caused by management of anxiety through pharmaceutical methods, application of complementary medicine is of paramount importance. This study aimed to compare the effects of lavender and diazepam on anxiety level of patients before orthopedic surgery.
This clinical trial was conducted on patients undergoing orthopedic surgery, who referred to one of the teaching hospitals of Bojnord, Iran, in 2015. In total, 60 patients were selected through randomized convenience sampling and divided into intervention and control groups. The intervention group received 300 mg of lavender extract, whereas the control group orally consumed 5 mg diazepam before the surgery. Anxiety level of patients was measured one night and one hour before the surgery using Spielberger’s State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Data analysis was performed in SPSS, version 16, using paired t-test, Fisher’s exact test, Chi-square, and independent t-test.
In this study, mean anxiety level of the intervention group changed from 9.8±6.0 to 76.2±5.5 (P According to the results of this study, similar to diazepam, lavender can diminish anxiety level in patients before orthopedic surgery. It is recommended that lavender be used before surgeries to decrease anxiety level since herbal medicine is associated with less complications compared to diazepam.