Pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions to alleviate anxiety before pediatric anesthesia: a survey of current practice in Korea

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: This study was undertaken to determine current practice for preoperative anxiety reduction in Korean children. METHODS: An email survey of all members (n = 158) of the Korean Society of Pediatric Anesthesiologists was conducted from November 2014 to January 2015 to assess current practice, preferences, and general opinions regarding pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions performed to alleviate preoperative anxiety in children prior to general anesthesia. RESULTS: Forty-one anesthesiologists completed the survey; a response rate of 26%. Only 4.9% of respondents undertook anxiety reduction according to a written hospital policy, and 95.1% did not. Most respondents (70.7%) performed anxiolytic intervention guided by informally standardized hospital protocol. In clinical practice, 90% of respondents used pharmacological and/or non-pharmacological intervention to alleviate anxiety in children. Nearly half of the respondents (53.7%) used premedication to reduce anxiety, and midazolam was most frequently used. Parental presence during induction of anesthesia was considered the most effective non-pharmacological intervention (60.4%), and was allowed by 78% of respondents, and watching a video was considered the second most effective intervention (27.1%). CONCLUSIONS: Korean pediatric anesthesiologists use both pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions to alleviate preoperative anxiety, and these interventions are generally guided by an informally standardized hospital protocol. Anesthesiologists requiring effective anxiety reduction prefer pharmacological intervention and most commonly use intravenous midazolam, whereas those that want safe anxiety reduction prefer non-pharmacological intervention and most frequently use parental presence during induction of anesthesia.