Abstract: The preoperative period is a stressful event for the majority of individuals undergoing surgery. This is especially true in the paediatric patient and is related to a limited understanding of the nature of the illness and the need of surgery by young children. Pharmacological and behavioural interventions are used to treat preoperative anxiety in children and their parents.
Anaesthesia and surgery represent an immense time of stress for the child. The reasons for stress include primarily (i) separation from parents (ii) strange surroundings (iii) painful procedures (iv) frightening procedures and (v) survival.1 They are unable to understand the necessity for their surgery, nor are they likely to be amenable to reasoned explanation.......
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