ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION/AIM: Children experience important anxiety before surgery. Anxiety and pain are positively correlated. Serious gaming is a non-pharmacological intervention to prepare children and parents for an operation. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the serious game CliniPup® on anxiety and pain in children undergoing ambulatory surgery. METHOD: A prospective randomized controlled pilot trial in 72 children aged 5 to 11â¯years old scheduled for day-care surgery (general surgery, dentistry, otorhinolaryngology, urology) was performed. Participants were randomly assigned into 3 groups: A (CliniPup®), B ("Empty game" without educational information), or C (no game, oral information at the outpatient clinic, current standard of care). Anxiety, pain, and behaviour were evaluated by validated instruments at six time-points: T0: baseline, T1: 1â¯week preoperatively, T2: at hospital admission, T3: before discharge, T4: 1â¯week postoperatively, T5: 1â¯month postoperatively. RESULTS: After playing the game (T1), the estimated mean anxiety score (VASa) was lower in Group A (1.9â¯units) versus Group B (2.7â¯units). The estimated mean VASa at T1 for Group A was 2.6â¯units lower compared to Group C (pâ¯=â¯0.003). For Group B, VASa levels were 1.8â¯units lower than in Group C (pâ¯=â¯0.045). After correction for "surgery type", Group A continued to show a significantly lower VASa compared to Group C (pâ¯=â¯0.044). On the other time points, no difference in anxiety and pain were observed, nor in post-hospitalization behaviour. CONCLUSION: Children that played the CliniPup® game one week before surgery had a significant reduction in preoperative anxiety after playing the game, but not on the other time points. No differences on peri-operative pain were observed during the different time points. TYPE OF STUDY: Randomized Trial. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II.
