Preoperative Anxiety in Pediatric Age Group- A Brief Communication

Preoperative anxiety (PA) in children is a large problem in anaesthesia and critical care. Most of the time only the tip of the iceberg is managed by anesthetist due to low expression by children and lack of any established method of assessment. Parents also cannot fully judge the anxiety of children and report to the doctor. On the other hand parents, too, develop anxiety before the surgery, which may transmit to their children. High levels of PA produces delay in induction time, tachycardia, hypertension, more consumption of anesthetics, longer ICU and hospital stay, poor outcome and postoperative behavioural changes [1]. Many medical staff, parents and pediatric patients, themselves, strongly desires a better understanding of how to successfully promote a calm and pleasant preoperative experience to their child [2]. The incidence, risk factors, side effects, assessment methods and steps to manage PA is discussed below.