KOCHI: Tomophobia is the fear or anxiety caused by forthcoming surgical procedures and/or medical interventions. For people diagnosed with tomophobia, delaying or not having the procedure can cause more harm than the actual procedure itself. Tomophobia could begin with Latrophobia (the irrational fear of doctors) also popularly known as white coat syndrome. Other similar cross over fears are nosocomephobia (the fear of hospitals), trypanophobia (the fear of needles), agliophobia (the fear of pain), hemophobia (the fear of blood), carcinophobia (the fear of cancer), mysophobia (the fear of germs) and finally thanatophobia (the fear of death).
The symptoms suggestive of tomophobia are debilitating panic attacks, elevated heart rate, shortness of breath, tightening of the chest, sweating and trembling. Common tips to overcome the fear of surgery are to share worries about the procedure with the doctor, get and stay healthy before it and try to stay distracted on days prior to the surgery.
Know what to expect and follow instructions. Have a support group which includes persons who have undergone a similar procedure, family and friends to help talk through the fears. In extreme cases, a new mode of short term psychotherapy known as Cognitive Behavior Therapy may help.
One should be judicious in adopting exposure therapy which gives the patient a chance to witness an actual surgery, usually starting with pictures and working up to videos.Concerns that arise after wards are regarding cosmetic appearance and accompanying pain. Herein lies the role of Keyhole Surgery and its advantages over Open surgery.
The former, when employed in the chest or thorax is known as Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS). This is a minimally invasive surgical technique adopted to diagnose and treat problems in the chest. Multiple small incisions are all that are required as opposed to 30 cm in open surgery of the chest (thoracotomy).
The great advantage of VATS is avoidance of muscle division and bone fractures that allows for diminished duration and intensity of pain and a shorter time to return to full activity. VATS might be used to biopsy part of the lung, the lymph nodes, tumours, the tissue covering the lung or lining the inside of the chest wall (pleura), the tissue around the heart (pericardium), or the esophagus.