The Study of Bach Flower Remedies as Premedication

Preoperative anxiety & tension can cause mental stress for patients who are about to undergo the operation. Rescue remedy, a combination of Bach Flower Remedies, is said to alleviate various stresses. Thus, we studied the usefulness of Rescue Remedy as premedication. The subjects were divided into 2 groups: One which was administered Rescue Remedy and the control group (20 in each group). We measured that number of times that the subject had taken the remedy before entering the operating room, blood pressure and heart rate when the subject arrived in the operating room, and levels of anxiety & tension using A-VAS (Visual Analog Scale) the day before the operation and after entering the operating room. No significant statistical difference was found although the heart rate showed a tendency to decrease amongst subjects who took Rescue Remedy in comparison with the control group. The frequency of intake of Rescue Remedy decreased significantly in the group of subjects who took Rescue Remedy compared to the control group. We demonstrated that Rescue Remedy can alleviate anxiety and tension prior to operations, so that Rescue Remedy is considered to have potential as a premedication.