Effects of Ketamine Anesthesia and Stress-Reducing Psychological Methods on Surgery Patients

Nowadays, quite a lot is known about the stress of surgical operations, anesthesia, and the biochemical correlations of anesthesia. Some important data have been provided on stress and stress hormones by investigating different types of anesthesia (Clarke, Johnston, & Sheridan, 1970; Halter, Pflug, & Porte, 1977; Pettinger, Tanaka, Keeton, Campbell, & Brooks, 1975). The effects of premedication have also been analyzed, but the question of how far the perioperative anxiety can be reduced by psychological techniques is still open.