Preparing Parents to Be Present for Their Child’s Anesthesia Induction

Abstract

A brief, video-based intervention aimed at preparing parents to be present for their child's anesthesia induction was not successful in reducing the children's preoperative anxiety. However, it is unclear whether parents included in this study actually performed as instructed in the intervention to reduce their children's anxiety. Future research should monitor parent behavior and support parental performance to reduce their children's preoperative anxiety.

The effects of preanesthetic parental presence on preoperative anxiety of children and their parents: A randomized clinical trial study in Iran

“…among 93 children aged 2–10 years, the effectiveness of PPIA in reducing children's preoperative anxiety was not improved by the intervention at the holding stage ( P = 0.15), the point at which the family left the holding area ( P = 0.39), the point that they entered the OR ( P = 0.28), and the point at which the anesthesia mask was introduced ( P = 1.3). [15] In a prospective trial done by Kim et al . among 117 children aged 2–7 years scheduled for minor elective surgery, parental presence during induction of sevoflurane anesthesia caused no changes in the mYPAS scores from baseline to induction among the studied groups ( P = 0.049).…”

“…[18] This scale has good reliability and validity for measuring children's preoperative anxiety in the preoperative holding area and during the induction of anesthesia. [1516]…”

“…[13] In addition, results of recent clinical trials, where parents were randomly assigned to be present or absent during anesthetic induction, have not been positive and no differences in children's preoperative anxiety were observed between parental presence or absence groups. [1516] A recent Cochrane review of nonpharmacological methods to reduce children's preoperative anxiety showed that PPIA did not reduce children's preoperative anxiety compared with not having a parent present in 5 trials, and in 3 trials, no clear difference was observed in children's preoperative anxiety whether a parent was present or not. [7] In another review study, PPIA alone was the least effective means of decreasing a child's anxiety during the induction of anesthesia compared to premedication midazolam and behavioral distraction.…”

Supporting paediatric patients: Parental presence in the anaesthetic journey

“…Depending on the child, they may be able to be held by the parent for induction 8 . This informal visit and the role of the parent is vitally important and will benefit the child and parent as it familiarises them with the forthcoming scenarios and environment under the guide of the family-centred care model 35 .…”

“…Of those that do, some children and parents are either transported to the anaesthetic room or directly into theatre for care without orientation to the new environment. For parental presence to be an effective practice in paediatric anaesthesia, parents will need support and instruction when in the induction area to understand the sequence of events and how they can best support their child 8 . Inclusion of parents during induction of anaesthesia is a practice that aligns with a family-centred model of care.…”