Utilization of a postoperative adenotonsillectomy teaching video: A pilot study

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Surgery
• Medical Education
• Pain Management

Background:

• Pediatric tonsillectomies are increasingly performed as outpatient procedures.
• Parental involvement in post-operative pain management is crucial.
• Adequacy of current parental pain management teaching is uncertain.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of a video teaching tool for parental post-operative pain management education.
• To compare video-based instruction with standard verbal instructions.
• To assess the impact of different instructional methods on parental knowledge.

Main Methods:

• Prospective randomized study of 99 families undergoing tonsillectomy ± adenoidectomy.
• Three groups: verbal instruction only, video + verbal, video only.
• Pre- and post-instruction knowledge assessments (0-8 scale) and post-operative helpfulness ratings (1-5 scale).

Main Results:

• No statistically significant increase in parental knowledge scores from pre- to post-instruction across all groups (median score 5/8 at both time points).
• Baseline knowledge scores did not differ significantly between groups.
• Video teaching tool groups (B and C) reported high helpfulness ratings (median 4/5).

Conclusions:

• A significant baseline deficit in parental understanding of post-operative pain management exists.
• Neither verbal nor video-based instruction significantly improved parental knowledge.
• Video instruction is a well-received adjunct or alternative to verbal instruction, but further optimization of educational materials is needed.