Exploring the therapeutic benefits of aromatherapy compared traditional medicine for patients undergoing Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Motivation: Many individuals undergoing MRI scans experience claustrophobia. The resulting anxiety often leads to reduced image quality and even the abandonment of exams. Goal(s): Our goal is to use aromatherapy in a comprehensive stress reduction approach that we’ve developed to help improve MRI image quality, decrease nursing intervention and improve patient experience. Approach: More than 300 patients were involved in retrospective and prospective studies offering aromatherapy and alprazolam for anxiety during Cardiac MRI. Results: Aromatherapy was associated with improved image quality compared to alprazolam and was a strong predictor of reduced scan duration, nursing time, and number of repeat images. Impact: Aromatherapy has the ability to mitigate anxiety during MRI scans for patients with claustrophobia, yielding improved quality images and reduced scan time. As a result, implementation of aromatherapy has the ability to improve patient experience and clinical outcomes.