Abstract:

Objective To explore the effectiveness of a perioperative therapeutic play program for school-aged children with extremity fractures. Methods The final therapeutic play program was developed through in-depth interviews，literature analysis and expert meeting. From October 2020 to October 2021，a total 92 school-aged children who suffered orthopedic surgery in a tertiary hospital in Shanxi Province were recruited as participant and divided into intervention or control group according to the time of admission. The experimental group received the therapeutic play intervention while the control group received routine care. The level of postoperative pain，perioperative anxiety，and anesthesia induction cooperation were compared between two groups. Results After the intervention，there was an interaction effect between the two groups of Wong-Baker pain scores and time（F_interaction=3.277， P=0.015）. The simple effect analysis showed that the pain scores of the test group were lower than those of the control group at 3 h，6 h，12 h and 24 h after the operation（P<0.05）. The anxiety level of the test group before operation and during anesthesia induction was lower than that of the control group，and the difference was statistically significant（P<0.05）. The score of anesthesia induction compliance in the test group was lower than that in the control group（P<0.05）. Conclusion The perioperative therapeutic play program is scientific and reliable，which can effectively relieve the perioperative anxiety，reduce postoperative pain，improve anesthesia induction compliance，so as to improve child’s comfort level and facilitate post-operative recovery.

Key words: Play Therapy, Fractures, Bone, Perioperative Period, Child, School-Age