The Anxiolytic Effects of Melissa officinalis L. on Patients Awaiting Surgery:  A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

Seyed Mojtaba Marashi; Samaneh Soleymani; Ali Akbar Safari; Mohammad Salehi Marzijarani; Omid Azimaraghi; Mostafa Javanmard; Mehrdad Karimi; Arman Zargaran

doi:10.18502/tim.v10i1.18218

Seyed Mojtaba Marashi Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Samaneh Soleymani Department of Traditional Pharmacy, School of Persian Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Ali Akbar Safari Department of Traditional Pharmacy, School of Persian Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mohammad Salehi Marzijarani Department of Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Omid Azimaraghi Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mostafa Javanmard Department of Anesthesiology, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mehrdad Karimi Department of Traditional Medicine, School of Persian Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Arman Zargaran Department of Traditional Pharmacy, School of Persian Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/tim.v10i1.18218

Keywords: Persian medicine; Anxiety; Herbal medicine; Anesthesia

Abstract

Preoperative anxiety is prevalent with up to 80% of patients experiencing this unpleasant feeling. Melissa officinalis L. is a famous herb with proposed medicinal activity including anxiolytic effects. Therefore, we aimed to consider the effect of M. officinalis in capsule formulation on preoperative anxiety in this clinical study. The plant material was standardized based on its essential oil content using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry apparatus. Then, 45 patients undergoing general surgery with American society of anesthesiology (ASA) physical status I or II were selected. By randomization, 23 and 22 patients were enrolled in treatment and placebo groups, respectively; to receive 500 mg dried powder of M. officinalis or placebo capsules, every 6 hours for 24 hours in this double-blind clinical study. They also completed the State Trait Anxiety Inventory for the second time and then proceeded to surgery. After the intervention, results showed a significant difference between the drug and placebo groups. The anxiety scores were 4.73 ± 1.17 and 5.81± 1.22 in the drug and placebo groups, respectively (p = 0.01). No adverse event was recorded. The results of this investigation show that M. officinalis capsule decreases preoperative anxiety in the patients who are undergoing general surgery and could be considered as a helpful supplement for these patients.