Perioperative Psychological Interventions

Surgery can be an emotionally stressful and potentially traumatic event. Physical complications from surgery, when they occur, are a significant predictor of long-term psychosocial adjustment. Other postoperative complications such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, pain, and delirium can also impact long-term outcome. This chapter presents the rationale for providing psychological intervention for these conditions within the perisurgical setting. Although few psychological interventions have been designed specifically for the postsurgical setting, numerous evidence-based psychotherapies can be successfully adapted to address symptoms of physical and emotional distress to aid perisurgical psychological adjustment.