The Operating Theatre Journal - Journal - Page 5
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Children’s surgery magic
“I use guided imagery, so tell the child we are going into space and the mask is
their astronaut mask, or that we are going snorkelling and it’s their face mask.”
Dr Colleen Chew is an anaesthetist at Epworth Richmond, an ANZCA
fellow, and a mum to three young boys.
While she doesn’t bring her wand to the operating theatre, Dr Chew has
a range of ‘tricks’ to help relax children before surgery.
“This is what I do every single day, but for kids and their
parents, it’s a huge deal,” Dr Chew said.
“Anything I can do to alleviate anxiety and stress is good.”
Dr Chew gives young patients stickers so they can decorate their
anaesthetic mask. She also gets the children to choose a fragrant balm
like chocolate magic, optimistic cherry or lemon pie to coat the inside
of the mask, so they smell the scent as they go to sleep.
“After we decorate their mask, I get the child to sleep on
their parent’s lap so they are being cuddled and feel safe
and they aren’t in a bed by themselves,” Dr Chew said.
Sending kids to sleep when they have
surgery can be magic.
Anaesthetists, using simple magic tricks to help children relax before
operations, have been hailed as a successful anaesthesia tool in a new
medical reference book.
The success of the “magical distraction” approach on young
patients is highlighted in the latest edition of Australasian Anaesthesia,
a peer-reviewed reference for the Australian and New Zealand College
of Anaesthetists’ (ANZCA) 8200 anaesthetists, 580 specialist pain
medicine physicians, and nearly 2,000 anaesthesia and pain medicine
trainees.
“I use guided imagery, so tell the child we are going into
space and the mask is their astronaut mask, or that we
are going snorkelling and it’s their face mask. As they go
to sleep, I get their mum to snorkel ahead and explain
that we are going to 昀椀nd some 昀椀sh, turtles or dolphins”.
Parents can play a key role in settling children.
“The only person the child knows in the operating theatre
is their parent, so parents can play an important part in
alleviating the worry a child may be feeling,” Dr Chew said.
Find out more 02921 680068 • e-mail admin@lawrand.com
Source: Epworth Foundation trading as Epworth HealthCare
Issue 398
November
2023
5
