Prevention of Psychosis Following Open-Heart Surgery
HERBERT R. LAZARUS M.D.1, and
JEROME H. HAGENS 2
1 Director of education and research, Milwaukee County Mental Health Center, and assistant professor of psychiatry, Marquette University. His address is 8420 Gridley Avenue, Milwaukee, Wis. 53226
2 Senior medical student at Marquette University School of Medicine
The high risk of postoperative psychotic reaction occurring in patients who have undergone open-heart surgery has been attributed to several factors. The authors studied two of these—preoperative psychological state of the patient and environment in the recovery room—to determine their influence upon the incidence of postoperative reactions in two groups of heart-surgery patients. They conclude that a preoperative psychiatric interview, accompanied by individual recommendations for postoperative care, and minimization of the environmental stresses of the recovery room, lessen the risk of postoperative psychotic reaction among heart-surgery patients.
