Management of perioperative stress in children and parents. Part I--the preoperative period.

Hospitalisation and surgery are undoubtedly one of the most difficult experiences the children and their parents have to face. The lack of appropriately provided information about treatment and other hospitalization-related aspects increases anxiety and uncertainty. Besides showing sincere empathy, physicians working with paediatric patients should know the strategies to reduce perioperative stress in children and their families. The first part of our paper describes various well-tried methods of preoperative management, some of which can be applied before hospitalization. The crucial elements of such a strategy are to dissipate the emerging doubts by providing children and parents with relevant and understandable information and to familiarise them with the hospital setting.