Impact of Mental Health on General Surgery Patients and Strategies to Improve Outcomes

Mental Health Disorders (MHD) are a growing concern nationwide. The significant impact MHD have on surgical outcomes has only recently started to be understood. This literature review investigated how mental health impacts the outcomes of general surgery patients and what can be done to make improve...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American Surgeon 2023-06, Vol.89 (6), p.2636-2643
Main Authors: Josephs, Cooper A., Shaffer, Virginia O., Kucera, Walter B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Artificial Intelligence
Humans
Length of Stay
Mental Disorders - therapy
Mental Health
Pain, Postoperative
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Summary:Mental Health Disorders (MHD) are a growing concern nationwide. The significant impact MHD have on surgical outcomes has only recently started to be understood. This literature review investigated how mental health impacts the outcomes of general surgery patients and what can be done to make improvements. Patients with schizophrenia had the poorest surgical outcomes. Mental health disorders increased post-surgical pain, hospital length of stay, complications, readmissions, and mortality. Mental health disorders decreased wound healing and quality of care. Optimizing outcomes will be best accomplished through integrating more effective perioperative screening tools and interventions. Screenings tools can incorporate artificial intelligence, MHD data, resilience and its biomarkers, and patient mental health questionnaires. Interventions include cognitive behavioral therapy, virtual reality, spirituality, pharmacology, and resilience training.
ISSN:0003-1348
1555-9823
DOI:10.1177/00031348221109469