Child: care, health and development
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Child Care Health Dev · Jul 2016
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyPlay distraction versus pharmacological treatment to reduce anxiety levels in children undergoing day surgery: a randomized controlled non-inferiority trial.
Perioperative experience can be one of the most distressful experiences in a child's life if not managed properly by healthcare professionals. Its consequences can extend well beyond surgery and recovery into the child's future life. Healthcare professionals have a responsibility to decrease the anxiety associated with this experience, improve the child's and the parent's experience and prevent negative consequences. This has traditionally been performed through pharmacological treatment which might have negative side effects. More developmentally appropriate distraction methods are currently being trialled globally to augment the evidence that supports their use as a similarly efficient alternative. ⋯ The results indicate that the distraction technique employed can be considered as an efficient alternative to traditional pharmacological premedication for children undergoing day surgery.