ASA: Less Noise May Aid Children’s Behavior Following General Anesthesia

MONDAY, Oct. 31, 2022 (HealthDay News) — A reduced noise environment in the operating room (OR) may improve postoperative behavior in children undergoing general anesthesia, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, held from Oct. 22 to 25 in New Orleans.

Nguyen Tram, Ph.D., from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and colleagues randomly assigned 64 pediatric patients undergoing general anesthesia to a control group or a reduced-noise group, which had low ambient lighting, muted communication devices, and reduced OR personnel.

The researchers observed no statistical differences between the control and reduced-noise groups in the Induction Compliance Checklist score and Modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale score. On the Post Hospitalization Behavior Questionnaire, children in the reduced-noise group were less fussy about eating, more interested in what was going on around them, and had fewer temper tantrums in the days following general anesthesia.

“The period before, during and after surgery is a particularly unpredictable time for parents,” Tram said in a statement. “By implementing some small measures in the OR, we found we were able to markedly improve some of this uncertainty for parents in the key behavioral areas of mood, eating, and engagement.”