Related News

Home » Metro

Xinhua hospital works to ease pre-surgery anxiety in children

A local hospital is allowing close family members to accompany children to receive anesthetics before surgery in order to reduce their fear and achieve better surgery results.

More than 1,000 children have been allowed to have a family member present when getting an anesthetic, officials from Xinhua Hospital said yesterday.

Research in the United States found that more than 50 percent of children who have surgery experience pre-surgery anxiety, which is mainly due to separation with their parents.

“In China, such anxiety is more serious, as our medical service lags behind developed countries due to the high number of patients and poorer patient care,” said Dr Jiang Lai, vice director of Xinhua Hospital’s anesthetics department, which is the first and only hospital offering such service currently.

He said Xinhua, which is strong in pediatrics, conducts more than 20,000 surgeries on children every year. Usually are not allowed within 200 meters of the surgery rooms.

“Children always cry heavily along the 200-meter route and many of them sweat,” he said. “In some extreme cases, like children who have congenital heart disease, the crying can worsen their heart function and impact surgery effects. Crying can lead to dehydration and sometimes eating and drinking before surgery is banned for safety reasons”

To ease anxiety ahead of surgery, Xinhua set up a special room for anesthetics administration in April 2014. The child’s mother or other close family member is allowed to be with the child while they receive the primary anesthetic.

“This helps the child remain calm and receive comfort,” Jiang said. “Then they will be sent to the surgery room.”




 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend