It can be very stressful for young children to face surgery. As simple as the procedure is, it is normal for the hospital environment, anesthesia, needles to cause anxiety and worry.
With the idea of making that moment as bearable as possible for everyone, both children and parents and medical staff, the Integris Baptist Medical Center Hospital of Oklahoma uses remote control cars in which children enter the operating room on wheels.
At the moment they have three electric cars that were donated by a brotherhood and serve to transport the children to the operating room or to take them to test them that can be stressful as blood draws or ultrasound.
Paul Digoy, MD, a pediatric otolaryngologist at the hospital, uses cars to take the children to be operated and ensures that the initiative is a success:
"Traditionally children would be taken to surgery in the hospital bed or taken by a staff member, which can be scary because they do not know what is going on or where they are going. Although we tell them and show them photos before taking them , it’s still scary to have to leave their parents to go to the operating room. But with cars, it’s fun and exciting. They even get to hear their favorite song as they go, as they would on a car radio. ” .
In Babies and more On wheels to the operating room: the great initiative that some hospitals are launchingDistraction is an excellent way to lessen the nerves in a situation that causes anxiety, and in the case of the little ones it is a technique that works perfectly. Entering the operating room thus becomes a game for them instead of being something that causes them fear.
In addition, they not only make the experience more positive for children, but also for parents, we also had a very bad time at that time. Seeing them entertained and happy, the time to separate from them becomes much less dramatic.
Doctors also point out that the way children go to sleep predicts how they will wake up after anesthesia. If you sleep scared, you will wake up in the same way; But if you feel happy and comfortable, you tend to wake up from the intervention with less crying and worry.
Wherever I look at it, it's a great idea to put into practice in hospitals and thus the procedures are less intimidating for children.
