Effect of Chest Tube Withdrawal on Patients' Anxiety Levels After Thoracic Surgery

Since the removal of the chest tube is a painful procedure, it can cause serious anxiety in patients. Patients state that chest tube removal is among the bad memories they experience. The source of the anxiety may be related to fear and anxiety about the pain caused by the upcoming chest tube removal procedure, or it may be the words they have heard from other patients who have had this experience before. There are a limited number of studies in the literature on anxiety that may occur in patients due to chest tube withdrawal. In addition, studies in the literature did not focus on whether there was a difference between pre-procedure and post-procedure anxiety levels. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the anxiety levels before and after the procedure and the pain levels felt in the patients due to the procedure due to chest tube withdrawal in patients who underwent VATS. In addition, it aimed to investigate whether there is any correlation between pre-procedure anxiety and pain experienced during the procedure. If a correlation is detected, the importance of pre-procedural anxiety management will be better understood, the necessity of interventions such as psychological and pharmacological treatment for anxiety will come to the fore, and new research on this subject will be needed.