None of us like to be sick. All the more, no one likes to suffer from having to undergo serious medical procedures. However, when such a situation occurs, anxiety related to, for example, surgery appears. “Will everything go as it should?”, “Will there be no complications?” – these are typical questions that a person asks himself when faced with the necessity of surgery. The occurrence of anxiety in such a case is a phenomenon that is justified from a psychological point of view and is completely normal. Nevertheless, anxiety has a disarming effect on the human body and psyche. The so-called premedication is supposed to limit the strength of its impact.
Premedication – what is it?
Premedication covers all actions, activities, measures taken to reduce or eliminate the fear of the procedures to be performed. Consequently premedication the well-being of the sick person improves, the level of nervous tension decreases, stress is relieved, and pain sensations are minimized. Thanks to the use of premedication the duration of treatment, which in the case of an anxious patient, could be unintentionally prolonged, can also be shortened. Premedication it is used in various fields, for example it is very effectively used in dentistry, in carrying out complex dental procedures, as well as before chemotherapy. Consequently premedication the person waiting for the procedure becomes calmer, more willing to cooperate with the doctor, is less reluctant to follow his recommendations, which in the absence of premedication could cause pain in the patient. Premedication applies regardless of age. Children and adults are equally exposed to the symptoms of “pre-treatment stress”, although the course of stress may vary between the two age groups.
Premedication it may also have a minor effect on the mental performance of patients. For example, it can result in short-term and minimal amnesia, thanks to which a person “forgets” about the pending surgery. This solution also allows you to limit access to pain-related memories – and thus reduce the level of stress and muscle tension in a given person.
Premedication – for whom and when?
W premedication a collection of various means is used. Drugs used in premedication are substances with a relaxing effect. In other words, it is a pharmacological effect on the mood and emotional and mental state of the patient. Light sleeping pills, sedatives, mood stabilizers, neuroleptics or strong painkillers are mainly used. Often these are drugs from the group of so-called strong drugs, which if taken frequently could lead to addiction. This includes drugs from the group of benzodiazepines, barbiturates and opioids. Drugs used in premedication they are most often administered orally (in the form of a tablet), less often intravenously or, in some cases, also rectally.
Due to the way the human psyche functions – including the existence of a common escape reflex when confronted with pain – premedication it is used in “difficult” patients. These include patients who are hypersensitive to pain, patients with personality disorders, also in animals (an example should be premedication in a dog before stressful events such as fireworks on New Year’s Eve) and especially in children. Children are especially prone to feelings of anxiety, negative emotions, and thus irrational behavior. This includes refusing to cooperate with a doctor who, when performing the procedure necessary for health, appears to the child as a hostile person because of the possibility of causing pain. In that case premedication is used before an operation or surgery, during rehabilitation or before a painful examination. Often the agent known colloquially as «stupid man«, Which causes short-term and reversible changes in consciousness, mood improvement and temporary amnesia.
It is also used after surgery premedication. Thanks to this, the possibility of unpleasant results of the procedure, such as vomiting, dizziness, malaise, pain, is eliminated or reduced. It is not possible to eliminate all symptoms, however premedication Its aim is to reduce their intensity as much as possible and enable the recovering patient to have a relatively “pleasant” regeneration.
Premedication it is also used before starting chemotherapy. Then, the appropriate phase of treatment is preceded by the administration of adjuvants, such as painkillers or antiemetics. This is especially important because of the eating problems that chemotherapy treatments can cause. Premedication then it allows for a relatively normal diet after starting this form of treatment. Moreover premedication allows you to check the patient’s reaction to taking specific medications. So it allows you to eliminate from the use of those drugs that would cause unwanted side effects or allergic reactions.