Do educational and empowerment sessions reduce stress levels before knee arthroplasty?

The objective of this study is to explore the link between the empowerment of patients and the decrease in stress levels associated to a surgical prescription. The work presented was conducted in the context of a "Fast Track or Rapid Recovery" surgery for patients who undergo knee arthroplasty, which was implemented in 2011 in Hospital Clinic of Barcelona. The protocol "Fast Track or Rapid Recovery" aims to optimise surgical outcomes, increase patient satisfaction and reduce costs. The program is based on a coordinated effort of a multidisciplinary team to combine process optimisation, patient education before surgery, new anaesthetic, analgesic and pharmacological techniques and review of the fundamental principles of the pre and postoperative in order to define an active physical t h e r a p y