Guest post by Claudia Thomas & Anne Schirrmeister A large body of evidence indicates that dealing with pediatric patients’ anxiety prior to surgical interventions is not optimal, and that this is true worldwide. Literature shows that preoperative anxiety results in increased pain after surgery, a higher incidence of postoperative delirium and longer hospital stays. In addition, behavioral disorders like enuresis nocturna and separation anxiety as well as sleep disorders and nightmares often occur.   Developing easy-to-use and standardized tools for reducing preoperative anxiety in children could be an approach to address this problem. Using the ability of imagination and magic thinking… Read More