Anxiety Levels in Living Liver Donors

Overview

Anxiety is a state of worry and apprehension caused by internal and external threats. High preoperative anxiety levels have been associated with increased anesthetic requirements, higher morbidity, and mortality rates. In adult patients undergoing various surgical procedures, preoperative anxiety rates have been reported to range from 11% to 80%. Most studies show that postoperative anxiety levels are related to preoperative anxiety levels. In patients undergoing general anesthesia, anxiety levels increase a few days after surgery as issues related to recovery and pain become apparent. Patients with high postoperative anxiety levels have also been reported to have a higher rate of medical complications.

Liver transplantation is the only treatment for end-stage liver disease. The shortage of organ donations is leading clinicians to increasingly perform transplants from living donors. The biggest concern in living-donor liver transplantation is donor safety. Liver donors undergo a major surgical operation that offers no medical benefit to them. The procedure can involve not only a physical but also a psychological burden. Given this situation, protecting both the physical and psychological health of liver donors is essential. Anxiety studies primarily focus on organ transplant recipients However, the quality of life of donors and psychological conditions such as anxiety and depression are attracting increasing attention in the field of organ transplantation today. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment 2018:14 1999-2005 A literature review revealed that there are limited studies investigating how donors are affected during the transplantation process in living-donor liver transplantation. The aim of our study is to determine the preoperative and postoperative anxiety levels of donors in living donor liver transplantation and to identify possible conditions that may be associated with anxiety.

Conditions