Parental presence during induction of anaesthesia: practice differences between the United States and Great Britain

Abstract

A questionnaire was sent to 1353 paediatric anaesthetists in Great Britain and the United States. Nineteen questions were asked about attitudes toward parental presence during induction of anaesthesia and the prevalence of such practice. Overall, respondents from Great Britain support parental presence more than the United States respondents. For example, 82% of the Great Britain respondents, vs 64% of the United States respondents thought that parental presence during induction decreases the anxiety (P = 0.001) and increases the cooperation of the child (P = 0.001). Most United States respondents (58%) allow parental presence in less than 5% of their cases, but most Great Britain respondents (84%) allow parental presence in more than 75% of their cases. We conclude that in contrast to the respondents from Great Britain, the majority of the United States sample does not feel that parental presence is useful and so does not routinely use this technique in their practice.

Successful and safe delivery of anesthesia and perioperative care for children with complex special health care needs

“…Parent-present induction is a widely accepted technique, but the altered parental roles as home medical providers for parents of children with complex special health care needs [56,57], as well as the characteristics of the child, do not conform to standard PPI considerations [58][59][60]. One third of our study cohort had PPI, which is lower than for children without complex special health care needs at our facility.…”

A parent in the operating theater: a survey of attitudes

“…Maternal presence was particularly important to the child and is thought to be even more helpful if the parent has a low trait anxiety [7]. The considerable professional resistance to the concept of a parent in the anesthetic room has now been largely overcome [8,9], and this is reflected in an increased uptake of this adjunct to pediatric sedation, even in the areas of the United States where resistance was highest [5].…”

Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Children under Anesthesia: The Relationship between the Degree of Information Provided to Parents and Parents’ Anxiety Scores

“…The child's age, the kind of disorder, the length of hospitalization, and the upcoming procedure all contribute to the child's anxiety, as well as to the anxiety of the parents. The parents' anxiety increases the child's and vice versa [21]. Lamontagne et al found that children of parents with high anxiety scores at preoperation time also had high anxiety scores [22].…”