Aim: The aim of this study was to detect the main causes of patients’ preoperative distress and their subjective experiences. Methods: After institutional ethic committee approval and patients consent an anonymous questionnaire was randomly distributed on the first and second postoperative day. Its content were basic demography, preoperative anxiety level using five point verbal scale , main cause; of anxiety, the worst postoperative experience, postoperative pain intensity (11 point scale) and its treatment incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) and other side effects of the surgery and the anesthesia. Correlations with specific patients’ characteristics were searched for to determine the risk groups. Results: Two hundred filled in questionnaires out of the 244 distributed could be used for further evaluation. Sixty-two per cent of patients suffered from preoperative anxiety, more women (p < 0.01) and more frequently after intra-abdominal (intra-thoracic) surgeries (p < 0.05). Forty-three per cent of patients had no subjective problems following surgery, others suffered more frequently from the postoperative pain (18.5 percent), PONV (11.5 percent) and postoperative procedures, e.g. changing of dressing, drains and from the postoperative regime. There was a correlation between PONV and both the intensity of postoperative pain and anamnesis of PONV during previous surgery (p < 0.01).

        Key words: surgery – anxiety – postoperative pain – nausea – vomiting