People undergoing surgery under general anaesthetic often experience considerable stress in the minutes leading up to the operation. This situation is even more problematic in young children, because they are less well equipped to understand what is happening, and because they are separated from their parents when they enter the operating room. Fortunately, there may be a way of substantially alleviating the anxiety of these young patients by using an intervention based on augmented reality, demonstrates a team from Université Laval in a study published in the scientific journal Pediatric Anesthesia.
The intervention tested by the researchers was developed at CHU de Québec - Université Laval by project manager Martin Thibodeau. "Using augmented reality glasses, children interact with two virtual characters - EQUOO and Constellation - who guide them through breathing and relaxation exercises. What’s more, these characters accompany the child into the operating room and introduce him or her to their fantasy world, providing a form of moral support," explains the study’s first author, Cindy Chamberland , from the School of Psychology.
The research team, made up of people from the Co-DOT Laboratory at the School of Psychology, the Faculty of Medicine and the Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec - Université Laval, tested the effectiveness of this intervention on 37 patients aged 5 to 17. The patients underwent day surgery under general anesthesia at the Centre mère-enfant of CHU de Québec - Université Laval.
The researchers first measured the stress felt by these patients when they were admitted to hospital on the day of surgery. These young people were then given the augmented reality procedure. A second assessment of their anxiety levels took place later, in the operating room, just before anesthesia. For purposes of comparison, the researchers carried out the same measurements on 64 young people who had not undergone the augmented reality procedure prior to surgery.
Results? The percentage of young people with increased anxiety between admission and the time of anesthesia was 22% in the augmented reality group, compared with 45% in the control group. Furthermore, at the time of anesthesia, the percentage of young people experiencing a high level of anxiety was 16% in the augmented reality group, while it was 44% in the control group. "Augmented reality and the EQUOO universe proved effective in reducing anxiety in young patients during the pre-operative period", summarizes study leader Sébastien Tremblay, a professor at the School of Psychology.
"Intervention teaches the child relaxation techniques that can be used immediately to reduce anxiety and later in daily life to better manage stress.
-- Cindy Chamberland, about the advantage of the EQUOO intervention over existing augmented reality tools This approach to reducing preoperative anxiety is now commonly used in certain units at the CHU de Québec - Université Laval. To date, over 300 children have benefited from the intervention. "Other augmented reality or virtual reality tools developed for children awaiting surgery are mainly aimed at distracting the child," notes Cindy Chamberland. The advantage of the EQUOO intervention is that, in addition to captivating the child, it teaches relaxation techniques that are immediately useful for reducing anxiety and that can be used later, in daily life, to better manage stress."
The authors of the study published in Pediatric Anesthesia are Cindy Chamberland, Myriam Bransi, Ariane Boivin, Sandra Jacques, Joël Gagnon and Sébastien Tremblay.
