Effect of recorded maternal voice on emergence agitation in children undergoing bilateral ophthalmic surgery: A...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Anesthesiology
• Surgical Recovery
• Auditory Stimulation

Background:

• Emergence agitation is a common complication in pediatric anesthesia, particularly after ophthalmic surgery.
• Current methods to manage emergence agitation have limitations.
• The potential of auditory stimuli, specifically maternal voice, as a non-pharmacological intervention is under investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of playing recorded maternal voice via headphones in children undergoing bilateral ophthalmic surgery.
• To assess the impact on the incidence of emergence agitation and the anesthesia recovery course.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, blinded, randomized study involving 127 children (aged 2-8 years) undergoing bilateral ophthalmic surgery.
• Participants were randomized into two groups: treatment group (listening to recorded maternal voice) and control group (headphones without auditory stimuli).
• Primary outcome: incidence of emergence agitation. Secondary outcomes: awakening time and post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) stay time.

Main Results:

• The maternal voice group showed a significantly lower incidence of emergence agitation compared to the control group (32.8% vs. 55.6%).
• Awakening time was significantly shorter in the maternal voice group (22.9 min vs. 27.3 min).
• PACU stay time was significantly reduced in the maternal voice group, facilitating earlier discharge (29.7 min vs. 34.8 min).

Conclusions:

• Playing recorded maternal voice is an effective strategy to mitigate emergence agitation in children under sevoflurane anesthesia for ophthalmic surgery.
• This auditory intervention promotes faster recovery, evidenced by reduced awakening times and shorter PACU stays.
• Maternal voice offers a promising, non-invasive method to improve pediatric post-anesthetic care.