HEADPLAY Personal Cinema System Facilitates Intravenous Cannulation in Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Evangeline Lim1, Teddy Fabila, Thong Sze Ying

  • 1Department of Paediatric Anaesthesia, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore.

Insights

The HEADPLAY personal cinema system (PCS) effectively distracted children during IV cannulation, showing high acceptance and satisfaction. While not significantly reducing pain or anxiety, it improved the overall experience for pediatric patients.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Anesthesiology
  • Medical Device Technology
  • Pain Management

Background:

  • Intravenous cannulation in children can cause significant anxiety and pain.
  • Distraction therapy is commonly used to mitigate procedural distress.
  • Novel technologies are being explored to enhance distraction methods.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the HEADPLAY personal cinema system (PCS) as a distraction tool during pediatric intravenous cannulation.
  • To compare the efficacy of HEADPLAY PCS against conventional distraction therapy.
  • To assess children's anxiety, pain, and satisfaction levels.

Main Methods:

  • A randomized study involving 60 children undergoing anesthesia.
  • Group 1 used HEADPLAY PCS for distraction; Group 2 received conventional therapy.
  • EMLA cream was used for local anesthesia; anxiety assessed via mYPAS.

Main Results:

  • No statistically significant differences in pain or anxiety scores between groups.
  • HEADPLAY PCS group reported marginally higher satisfaction, not reaching statistical significance.
  • 86.6% of children in the HEADPLAY PCS group desired its use in the future.

Conclusions:

  • HEADPLAY PCS is an acceptable distraction tool for pediatric intravenous cannulation.
  • The system can contribute to improved patient satisfaction during the procedure.
  • Further research may explore optimizing its use for pain and anxiety reduction.