Giving children iPads to distract them before surgery is as effective at lowering their anxiety as sedatives, a study has found.
The latest research on children aged 4 to 10 years was presented at the World Congress of Anaesthesiologists in Hong Kong.
Anxiety was assessed both in children and in parents.
“Our study showed that child and parental anxiety before anaesthesia are equally blunted by (sedative) midazolam or use of the iPad,” says French researcher Dr Dominique Chassard.
“However, the quality of induction of anaesthesia, as well as parental satisfaction, were judged better in the iPad group.”
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