The association between personality trait and the development of postoperative complications in enterostomized patients. Systematic review of literature.

Aim: To investigate the presence of association between the personality trait and the onset of postoperative complications in patients undergoing enterostomy packaging.

Materials And Methods: Systematic review of the literature.

Results: Type D personality traits and those with a low tendency to optimism and temperament (ex. anxiety-depressive syndrome) would seem to be associated with an increased risk of developing postoperative psychiatric morbidity and reduced levels of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in enterostomized patients for colorectal cancer (CRC). Also, type-D personality, has been associated with greater risk of multiple comorbidities including an increased risk of heart failure unrelated to other sociodemographic causes 32-34-35. Personality with little tendency to optimism may represent a predictive factor on the development of psychological suffering one year after the diagnosis of CRC 3. Patients with personality traits associated with reduced levels of life satisfaction and / or reduced coping capacity require longer hospitalization time 26.

Discussion: Several studies highlight the presence of association between personality traits oriented to performance, persistence and extroversion and outcomes in various areas of surgery 14,2,-27,30. However, in almost all cases, the outcomes measured do not correspond to the early post-operative complications defined in the inclusion criteria but to mediumlong term psychological and rehabilitative outcomes.

Conclusions: From the review study, no sources were found concerning the association between the personality trait and the onset of early postoperative complications in enterostomised patients, highlighting, furthermore, a lack of data on the subject involving the entire field of abdominal surgery.

Key Words: Personality trait, Enterostomy, Post-operative complications.