The Importance of Place During Sedation for Intrathecal Chemotherapy in Pediatric Oncology Care

• Background/Objectives: Children who are treated for childhood cancer are exposed to hospitalization, interaction with unfamiliar people in strange environments, and unpleasant, and sometimes, procedures. Having to wait for procedures is one of the worst situations, experienced by child patients. It is therefore important that hospitals provide environments that are non-stressful and safe for children in conjunction with procedures. Especially important, is the possibility for children who are hospitalized to sustain everyday activities, such as play, irrespective of their age and severity of illness.Objective: To assess differences in expenditure of time and dose of anesthetic drugs during sedation for intrathecal chemotherapy in two different environments- the children's ward, where the child was hospitalized, and the operation theatre.Design/Methods: The study is based on retrospective data from repeated treatment sessions recorded in operation planning programs and journals during 2011-2018 (n=164). Children of the ages 1-12 years (n=22) with varying number of treatments were included in the study. Data was analyzed with the Kruskal-Wallis test and post-hoc analyses included the Mann-Whitney Test with Bonferroni correction.Results: The time from the start of the procedure until the start of sedation was significantly lower at the children's ward, which was also the case if including the waiting time before the start of the procedure. No significant differences could be found regarding the dose of anesthetic drugs used.Conclusions: Sedation for intrathecal chemotherapy at the children's ward provides care to a higher extent in accordance with the needs of the child, by reducing the time for the procedure and thus the interference with the child’s everyday life at the hospital. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Omvårdnad (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Nursing (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

art (subject category)