The effect on perioperative anxiety and emergence delirium of the child or parent's preference for parental accompaniment during anesthesia induction in children undergoing adenotonsillectomy surgery

Abstract Background Pediatric emergence delirium (ED) occurs in the early postoperative period and is defined as a complex psychiatric disorder. Non‐pharmacological methods of treatment, such as perioperative parental presence, have been the focus of many studies, but the impact on preventing ED of which parent accompanies the child during anesthesia induction has not been identified as yet. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine whether the selection made by children undergoing adenotonsillectomy of which parent will accompany them during anesthesia induction has the effect of reducing postoperative delirium scores and incidence compared to selections made by the parents. Methods The study included 80 children of both genders, aged 5–12 years, who underwent day‐case surgery in the otorhinolaryngology clinic. The patients were separated randomly into two groups of 40. In Group 1, the children were asked to choose which of their parents would accompany them during general anesthesia induction, and in Group 2, the parents were asked to decide who would be the accompanying parent. Evaluation of postoperative delirium was made using the Pediatric Anesthesia Emergence Delirium (PAED) scale. The anxiety level of the children was evaluated with the modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (mYPAS) both in the preoperative waiting area and during the anesthesia induction. The State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was used to evaluate the anxiety level of the parents. Results The mean PAED scores were similar in both groups (mean difference [95% CI]: −0.1 [−2.8 to 0.7]). The incidence of emergence delirium was also similar in both groups (risk ratio 0.9 [0.4 to 1.8]). The mean mYPAS scores during the induction of anesthesia of Group 1 was lower than that of Group 2 (mean difference [95% CI]: −8.4 [−15.2 to −1.6]). The mean mYPAS scores evaluated in the preoperative waiting area were found to be similar in the two groups (mean difference [95% CI]: −1.9 [−7.5 to 3.5]). The mean STAI anxiety scores of the parents were similar in both groups, with higher scores obtained by mothers compared to fathers, at all measurement times. Conclusion The incidence or severity of ED did not decrease significantly even though lower anxiety scores were obtained during anesthesia induction in children who were allowed to make the decision of accompanying parent. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that postoperative delirium is a more complicated process that can be affected by many other variables rather than just the parent–child general interaction.