en تخصصي Special كاربردي Applicable <div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Background:</strong> Preoperational anxiety is a challenging issue in preoperative care of patients. However, lavender aromatherapy can be useful as a nursing intervention to reduce some symptoms of the anxiety. This study aimed to determine the effect of aromatherapy on the anxiety of patients undergoing surgical reconstruction of the upper limb.<br> <strong>Methods:</strong> In this non-randomized clinical trial, a total of 100 candidates of upper limb reconstruction operation were investigated in 15 Khordad Hospital, Tehran, Iran in 2017. They were selected by convenience sampling method and assigned into two groups of 50 patients; intervention and control. The lavender aromatherapy was administered for 20 minutes for the intervention group, and for the control or placebo group, distilled water was used instead of lavender. Spielberger questionnaire was completed by the participants before the intervention and 20 minutes after the intervention. The Chi-square test, paired t test and Independent t test were used for data analysis using SPSS V. 16.<br> <strong>Results:</strong> The mean (SD) values of state and trait anxiety in the intervention group were 56.88 (4.91) and 52.92 (5.79) respectively before the intervention; however, those value were 40.86 (4.03) and 46.66 (4.49) after the intervention. The results of paired t test showed a significant difference in the level of state and trait anxiety before and after the intervention (P < 0.001).<br> <strong>Conclusion:</strong> Considering the positive effects of lavender essential oil, it is possible to use it as a nursing intervention to reduce the level of anxiety of patients prior to reconstruction of upper limb.</div> Aroma therapy, Anxiety, Lavender essential oil 223 230 http://jccnc.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-240-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Seyed Esmael Hasanpour Hassanpour1394@sbmu.ac.ir 10031947532846003078 10031947532846003078 No Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Burn Surgery, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Elaheh Rouhi Rahim Begloo elahehrouhi032@gmail.com 10031947532846003079 10031947532846003079 Yes Department of Nursing, School of Nursing & Midwifery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Hanieh Jafarian hanyjafarian@yahoo.com 10031947532846003080 10031947532846003080 No Department of Medical Education, School of Medical Education Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Mansour Aliyari mansouraliyari@yahoo.com 10031947532846003081 10031947532846003081 No Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Hamedan University of Medical Sciences, Hamedan, Iran. Ali Mohammad Shariati Moghadam ashariati63@yahoo.com 10031947532846003082 10031947532846003082 No Department of Intensive Care Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Hamid Haghani haghani511@yahoo.com 10031947532846003083 10031947532846003083 No Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Hamid Reza Alizadeh Otaghvar drhralizade@yahoo.com 10031947532846003084 10031947532846003084 No Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Burn Surgery, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.