ABSTRACT
For most people, an operation is in the realm of the unknown and is associated with anxiety and tension. Numerous fears are connected with anesthesia and surgery: fears of suffocation, of not awakening, of mutilation, and of what organ damage or disease may be found during surgery. In addition there is the stress of separation from the familiar home and family members, and substitution of a strange environment with many new procedures. It goes without saying that many patients are suffering from some degree of pain prior to surgery, and that they anticipate pain after the operation is over.
