IMPLICATIONS: Most surgical patients use some form of complementary-alternative medical therapies (CAM) and are willing to accept CAM therapy as part of their perioperative management.

There is an increased interest in the general public regarding the usage of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The term denotes a wide range of variable therapies. CAM includes treatments with established benefits and few if any side effects (eg, acupuncture (1–7), progressive muscle relaxation (8), music therapy (9–12), or imagery based relaxation (13)) as well as treatments with less established benefits and an increased potential for adverse side effects (eg, some herbal medicines (14–16) or possibly chelation). A previous survey indicated that one of every three Americans use some form of CAM therapy (17). However, fewer than 40% of CAM users disclose their use of CAM to their physician (17). This is important because some CAM therapies are not free of side effects. For example, several case reports and review articles indicate that some herbal medications can interact with conventional medications and may lead to perioperative adverse effects, such as hemorrhage (16), cardiovascular instability, excessive somnolence (14, 18), and photosensitivity (15). Therefore, it is important for perioperative physicians to explore the prevalence and the type of CAM therapy use in all surgical patients.