[Preoperative psychoeducation for a severely traumatized child]

N., an 8-year-old girl with a long term history of severe sexual abuse and maltreatment with consecutive mental disorders, was scheduled for surgery of clubfeet. The team consisting of an anesthesiologist, a psychologist and a pediatrician decided to prepare the girl for surgery without time pressure. In a first step we applied psychoeducation to obtain a certain degree of confidence. Psychoeducation is a special form of psychological treatment aiming to define cause and goal of surgery together with the patient and relatives. In a further step the anesthesiologist familiarized her with the surgical procedure and the operating theatre. Finally a careful anesthesia with a pain-free postoperative period was applied. Even extremely traumatized children can be prepared for surgery by the help of psychoeducative methods, without time pressure, a careful and pain-free anesthesia and an experienced team of doctors.