In the field of nursing, we have been performing a presurgical verbal orientation using an explanation sheet for patients. However, many patients complained after surgery, “It was more stressful than I expected” and “It was hard to breathe.” These complaints indicate that patients suffered considerable stress by intermaxillary wire fixation. We thought that a presurgical orientation including a simulated experience would help them understand the postsurgical condition and relieve the postsurgical stress. Thus, we decided to perform a presurgical verbal orientation using either an explanation sheet （explanation group） or a simulated experience of using intermaxillary elastics （simulated-experience group） randomly assigned to patients, and compared the effect of the two methods. The results showed that both methods could provide enough information on intermaxillary wire fixation before surgery. Among the explanation group, there were many who replied that the surgery was the same as the image they had imagined before the surgery. In contrast, among the simulated-experience group, there were some who replied that the surgery was more stressful than expected. This was because the simulated experience using intermaxillary elastics, which could allow mouth opening, might have provided an incorrect image that intermaxillary wire fixation was not so stressful. Patients in the simulated-experience group felt that intermaxillary wire fixation was much more stressful than they had expected, and the orientation did not help relieve their stress. However, there were some who said the simulated experience was worthwhile and effective for orthognathic surgery. The present study highlighted the problems in performing our simulated experience, and enabled us to improve the method for pain relief.
