To evaluate the efficacy of 'the perioperative dialogue (PD)' by analyzing salivary cortisol, in 5- to 11-year-old children undergoing day surgery.
To deal with anxiety prior to investigations and/or procedures, children need to be confident and informed about what is going to happen. Therefore, intervention strategies should be initiated before admission to hospital.
Children (n = 93), 79 boys and 14 girls, scheduled for elective day surgery requiring general anesthesia were randomly recruited into three groups: (i) standard perioperative care (n = 31), (ii) standard perioperative care including preoperative information (n = 31), and (iii) the PD (n = 31). Saliva was sampled for cortisol analysis at specific time points during the pre- and perioperative procedures.
The children who received the PD had significantly lower (P = 0.003) salivary cortisol concentrations postoperatively. Moreover, it continuously decreased during the day of surgery compared with the other two groups (P