Mother's recorded voice on emergence can decrease postoperative emergence delirium from general anaesthesia in...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Anesthesiology
• Behavioral Psychology
• Postoperative Care

Background:

• Emergence delirium (ED) is a common postoperative behavioral disturbance in children following general anesthesia.
• ED can cause significant distress for pediatric patients, their parents, and caregivers.
• Current management strategies for ED are limited, necessitating research into effective interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the efficacy of maternal voice recordings in mitigating emergence delirium in pediatric patients.
• To compare the impact of listening to a mother's voice versus a stranger's voice on ED incidence and severity.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, double-blind, randomized controlled trial involving 66 children aged 2-8 years undergoing general anesthesia.
• Participants were assigned to listen to either their mother's recorded voice (Group M) or a stranger's voice (Group S).
• The primary outcome measure was the initial Pediatric Assessment of Emergence Delirium (PAED) score, with secondary outcomes including ED incidence, pain scores, and PACU stay duration.

Main Results:

• The mother's voice group (Group M) exhibited significantly lower initial PAED scores compared to the stranger's voice group (Group S) (9.8 vs 12.5, P=0.002).
• The incidence of emergence delirium was substantially lower in Group M (24.2%) versus Group S (60.6%) (OR 4.88, P=0.006).
• Time to reach Bispectral Index (BIS) levels above 60 was shorter in the mother's voice group.

Conclusions:

• Maternal voice intervention effectively reduces emergence delirium scores and incidence in pediatric patients post-general anesthesia.
• Listening to a mother's voice offers a safe and effective non-pharmacological strategy to improve pediatric postoperative recovery.
• This finding supports the integration of familiar auditory stimuli into post-anesthesia care protocols for children.