To help alleviate children’s preoperative anxiety, Hong Kong Children’s Hospital, in collaboration with Hong Kong Polytechnic University, City University of Hong Kong, and Playright Children’s Play Association, has developed a VR operating room experience project. Modeled after a real operating room environment, the project is designed specifically for children undergoing non-emergency surgeries.
On the day of surgery, children need only spend 15 minutes wearing a VR headset. Accompanied by a cartoon panda, they can simulate the entire journey from leaving the ward, walking through the corridor, and entering the operating room, as well as explore a 360-degree view of the virtual operating room. This allows them to familiarize themselves with the surgical process and environment in advance.
According to Dr. Celine Kwok Hui-suen, Deputy Head of the Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine at the hospital, more than half of pediatric patients experience anxiety, resistance, or even struggling behaviors before surgery.
This can not only affect clinical procedures and require additional analgesic medication but also worsen postoperative pain, prolong recovery, and even leave psychological trauma. Clinical observations have found that children who participated in the VR experience showed about a 20% reduction in anxiety levels compared to those who did not. In addition, the need for extra medication due to anxiety, postoperative nightmares, and traumatic memories also significantly decreased.
Since last year, this service has become a routine part of the surgical ward, with approximately 100 children having participated so far. Furthermore, Mok Yee-tan, Operations Manager of the Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine and the Department of Surgery, stated that the hospital has also arranged “clown doctors” to distract children using toys and magic tricks. When physically possible, children are allowed to drive toy cars into the operating room themselves and choose the flavor of the inhaled anesthetic gas, thereby enhancing their sense of control and autonomy and further reducing anxiety.
