Comparison of preparation and narcotic-sedative premedication in children undergoing surgery.

A psychological preparation program was developed for use prior to emergency surgery in children. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that provision of specific information prior to an emergency operation would reduce the need for premedication to control anxiety and stress. Children were randomly assigned to either a verbally prepared group given narcotic-sedative premedication (control) or to a psychologically prepared group given only atropine as premedication. The child and parent rated their own anxiety on a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The children and parents were also assessed by a nurse preoperatively and postoperatively using a similar scale. The children's pulse, blood pressure, and cortisol were also measured. The results showed no significant difference between the psychologically prepared group and the premedicated group, suggesting that psychological preparation compares favorably with narcotic-sedative premedication.