Nonpharmacological Adjuncts to Reduce Perioperative Anxiety and Pain for Awake Gynecological Procedures: A Scoping Review
Authors' conclusion
Overall, although many nonpharmacological interventions appear promising in managing perioperative anxiety and pain across diverse gynecological procedures, VR and music therapy demonstrated particular promise given their consistent patterns in reducing anxiety and pain, as well as scalability and feasibility.
Study context
- Population
- Patients undergoing awake gynecological procedures91 studies · 105 interventions
- Comparison
- Nonpharmacological adjuncts vs standard care or comparators
- Outcome
- Pain and anxiety across interventions
Methodological detailsOvid MEDLINE, Embase, SCOPUS, Cochrane CENTRAL, and Google Scholar searched from inception to December 3, 2024
- Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, SCOPUS, Cochrane CENTRAL, and Google Scholar searched from inception to December 3, 2024
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Interventions assessing pain
84/105, 80.0%
Reported reductions in pain
65.5%
55/84
Interventions assessing anxiety
72/105, 68.6%
Reported reductions in anxiety relative to controls or baseline
66.7%
48/72
Further findings
Intervention types
- Unique intervention types
- 19
- Virtual reality (VR)
- 22/105, 21.0%
- Music therapy
- 17/105, 16.2%
- Acupuncture
- 12/105, 11.4%
Study characteristics
- Therapeutic and diagnostic procedures (eg, hysteroscopies)
- 33/91, 36.3%
- RCTs
- 63/91, 69.2%
- Compared with standard care
- 78/105, 74.3%
Feasibility
- Generally feasible; acceptability and satisfaction comparable to standard of care or comparators
Original publication
Nonpharmacological Adjuncts to Reduce Perioperative Anxiety and Pain for Awake Gynecological Procedures: A Scoping Review. Anesth Analg. Published 10 August 2026. doi:10.
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