Melatonin on Anxiety and Sleep Quality in Adults Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery

Sleep disturbance is common among patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), especially during the first week of the postoperative period. Sleep disorders result in important impacts on morbidity, mortality, and quality of life. Many factors are thought to be the cause of sleep disturbance in patients who have undergone CABG. These factors include environmental stimuli (e.g. noise and uncomfortable beds), individual characteristics (e.g. primary sleep disorder and comorbid health), nature of cardiac illnesses, and surgical complications (e.g. incisional pain, use of diuretics and resultant nocturia, dyspnea, and difficulty in finding the proper position to sleep). Furthermore, decreased plasma melatonin concentrations have been documented during surgery and the postsurgical period in patients having undergone CABG. Melatonin is a neurohormone originating from the amino acid, tryptophan, and is mainly secreted by the pineal gland into the blood stream and the cerebrospinal fluid. It possesses a circadian secretion pattern with a low blood concentration during the day and a high concentration at night.