Guided IMagery and Patient Satisfaction Following Urogynecological Surgery

Guided imagery (GIM) is a program of directed thoughts and suggestions that guide your imagination to a relaxed and focused state. In clinical settings, it was originally found effective in treating patients suffering primarily from emotional or psychological issues by using descriptive language and the five senses to help the patient visualize their desired change or outcome (1, 2). More recently, GIM has been incorporated into chemotherapy and surgical settings. While it has not been conclusively found to improve outcomes, patients who received GIM reported feeling less anxious, less nausea following chemotherapy, slightly shorter surgical recovery times and a higher quality of life (3-8). While these studies suggest exciting prospects for the incorporation of GIM into the normal pre-op routine, we believe that they have left out one integral piece of the puzzle. We have previously found that patients who feel "unprepared" for surgery have less post-operative satisfaction (9). We propose that the stress and anxiety of the unknown during a patient's surgical experience can make them feel unprepared for surgery. Therefore, the same techniques that have been previously shown to decrease these symptoms in chemotherapy treatment and surgery should help patients feel more prepared, and therefore more satisfied with their surgical experience. This key finding would give sufficient support for the incorporation of GIM into the pre-op routine of any surgical patient, and may prove to be a successful vehicle for increasing the overall satisfaction of any hospital's patient population.