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The Art of Distraction: Young Cancer Patients Don't Need Sedation

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no sedation needed for young cancer patients iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Keeping young cancer patients still during their radiation treatments used to require sedation. Now, a Canadian hospital is using entertainment instead.

The Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary is using the iPad to calm young cancer patients during the half-hour treatments by letting them watch movies and TV shows.

In 2010, the cancer center teamed up with SAIT Polytechnic to rig an arm to attach the tablet computer to the radiation treatment couch. With the iPad in place, the hospital reports five out of the eight kids in the 4-to-7-year-old age group didn’t require sedatives to keep them from fidgeting.

Distracting kids from painful procedures isn’t new, but the Canadian kids may be among the youngest to undergo radiation without sedation.

Studies show older children allowed to play video games during and after treatment are better able to cope with pain. Several previously studies found the young distracted patients had less nausea, lower systolic blood pressure and needed fewer pain medications than their counterparts who were simply asked to rest.

Tom Baker Cancer Center radiation therapist Amanda Jacques says many parents are relieved that their child is no longer upset by coming to treatment.

“The children now enter the treatment room without fear to eagerly select their movie,” said Jacques, who led the project with fellow radiation therapist Stacey Allan.

Mona Udowicz, a radiation therapy manager at the cancer center said the iPad is letting the kids lead more normal lives.

She says the sedation can affect a child throughout an entire day and make play and learning difficult to impossible. Eliminating sedation lets the children eat, go to school and be generally more active.

Shawna Feradi’s 6-year-old son, Jordon, is one of the children who used the iPad during treatment for incurable brain-stem cancer.

She said her son was able to lie still during radiation because he could concentrate on the movie rather than the procedure. Because of this, the amount of time they spend at the hospital has been dramatically reduced, she said.

“With sedation, you have to be [at the hospital] very early in the morning and that means I wouldn’t be able to take my other son to school,” Shawna Feradi said.

Now Jordan doesn’t mind going to treatment so much because the stay is much shorter. For young Jordan, every minute is precious. His mother says while there is no cure, “the radiation helps keep him with us longer.”

Lynette Summerill is an award-winning writer and Scuba enthusiast living in San Diego, CA with her husband and two beach loving dogs. In addition to writing about cancer-related issues for EmpowHER, her work has been seen in newspapers and magazines around the world.

Sources:

Tablet Therapy. The Daily.com Carmen Melouney. June 10, 2012. Access at:
http://www.thedaily.com/page/2012/06/10/061012-news-ipad-children

Tablet computers replace sedation for young cancer patients. Albert Health Services News Release. June 6, 2012 http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/6779.asp

Video Games and health. Mark Griffiths. BMJ. 2005 July 16; 331(7509): 122–123. doi: 10.1136/bmj.331.7509.122 Accessed online via PubMed at:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC558687

Reviewed June 12, 2012
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith

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We value and respect our HERWriters' experiences, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice, although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.