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The relaxing effect of negative air ions on ambulatory surgery patients

Aizuwakamatsu, Japan

To the Editor:

Negative air ions are natural components of atmospheric air, which exist in a good quality environment and are considered to have beneficial biological actions.¹ Of these, a relaxing effect, for example decreases of anxiety, depression, irritability and tenseness, has been demonstrated,^2–4 whereas positive air ions have an opposite effect.⁵ There are two methods to generate negative ions: coronal discharge and water shearing. The latter method is, essentially, a natural source of negative ions.¹ Whether negative ions exert a relaxing effect was examined in ambulatory surgery patients.

After approval by our Institutional Committee, 95 patients receiving a minor skin surgery of short duration with local anesthesia alone were allocated, on alternative weeks, to a regular environment (n = 44) or a negative ion-rich environment (n = 51). A commercially available appliance for generating negative ions by means of water shearing (Aqua Air Rich, Matsushita Seiko, Osaka, Japan) was operated in the operating room (OR; 30 m³). An ion detector (Ion Tester KST-900, Kobe Denpa, Kobe, Japan) showed approximately 1000 parts/mL of negative ions and zero parts/mL of positive ions. In the regular OR environment, it showed a level of zero for both ions. The temperature and humidity of the room were measured by a digital thermohygrometer. Patients received no premedication and fluid infusion, and were asked by blinded nursing personnel to grade their degree of tension as: 1 = relaxed; 2 = normal tension; 3 = mild tension; 4 = moderate tension; and 5 = severe tension, before entering the OR. After leaving the OR, the same nurse asked the degree of tension during the first or latter half of the surgery.

There was no statistical difference between groups with regard to age (37 ± 18, 43 ± 20 yr), male/female ratio (17/27, 23/28), height (159 ± 16, 160 ± 9 cm), weight (59 ± 21, 57 ± 8 kg), room temperature (25.6 ± 1.4, 26.0 ± 1.3°C) and humidity (38.7 ± 9.2, 40.6 ± 12.0%), expressed as the mean ± SD or number. The degree of tension decreased significantly and more rapidly in the negative ion-rich environment (Figure).

View larger version (22K): [in this window] [in a new window]   FIGURE Degree of tension during the perioperative period. Values are mean ± SD. Statistical analysis was performed by the Friedman test followed by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test with Bonferroni correction (*P < 0.05 vs before entering the operating room), and Mann-Whitney U test at each evaluated time.

References

1 Iwama H, Ohmizo H, Furuta S, et al. Inspired superoxide anions attenuate blood lactate concentrations in postoperative patients. Crit Care Med 2002; 30: 1246–9.[Medline]

2 Buckalew LW, Rizzuto A. Subjective response to negative air ion exposure. Aviat Space Environ Med 1982; 53: 822–3.[Medline]

3 Livanova LM, Levshina IP, Nozdracheva LV, Elbakidze MG, Airapetyants MG. The protective effects of negative air ions in acute stress in rats with different typological behavioral characteristics. Neurosci Behav Physiol 1999; 29: 393–5.[Medline]

4 Nakane H, Asami O, Yamada Y, Ohira H. Effect of negative air ions on computer operation, anxiety and salivary chromogranin A-like immunoreactivity. Int J Phychophysiol 2002; 46: 85–9.

5 Giannini AJ, Castellani S, Dvoredsky AE. Anxiety states: relationship to atmospheric cations and serotonin. J Clin Psychiatry 1983; 44: 262–4.[Medline]

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