The Effect of Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation on Changes in Blood Sodium Due to Anxiety in Patients Undergoing Surgery: A Double-Blind Controlled Clinical Trial

IntroductionPre-surgery anxiety is a natural response to stress (۱). One of the most obvious symptoms is changes in water and electrolytes in the body, including a decrease in blood potassium. Numerous studies have shown the effect of anxiety on blood potassium levels, but there is not much information about the effect of anxiety on blood sodium levels. Today, electrical interventions as non-invasive methods have been widely used to control surgical anxiety and may have advantages in drug therapies. This study aimed to determine the effect of Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation on sodium changes caused by preoperative anxiety in patients undergoing surgery.MethodThis study was conducted on ۵۰ patients undergoing surgery with anesthesia class. Before surgery, a Transcranial alternating current stimulation was done on the experimental group for ۲۰ minutes. The control group underwent a sham electrical stimulation. The post-test was done ۲ hours after the intervention and before surgery. The independent T-test, Chi-square and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests were used to compare groups. The data were analyzed by SPSS v.۱۶.ResultsParticipants in this study were ۳۲ males and ۱۸ females. There were no differences in demographic variables between groups. There was no significant difference in the anxiety level of patients before the intervention. However, the anxiety level of the experimental group was less than the control group after the intervention )p=۰/۰۰ (. the level of anxiety in females )۷۲/۱۴± ۹۸/۲ ( was higher than males )۷۸/۱۲±۷۷/۱( before the intervention )p=۰/۰۰۶ ( but this rate didn't show any difference after the intervention )p= ۰/۰۷۵(.ConclusionThe results didn't show any significant correlation between two variables of anxiety level and serum sodium levels )P=۰/۴۷۹(. The results of the present study indicated that Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation is effective on reducing pre-surgery anxiety of patients. in this study, no evidence of the effect of anxiety on serum sodium levels was observed.