Dear parents! Showing a virtual reality tour of the operating room to your kids prior to anaesthesia may help reduce the preoperative anxiety in children, who are about to undergo surgery.

Researchers suggested to show ‘Pororo’ the little penguin to kids visiting the operating room and explaining what is in the operating room in a friendly manner.They analysed 70 children for elective surgery under general anaesthesia.There were two groups —a control group, which received a conventional informative education regarding anaesthesia and surgery and a virtual reality group, which watched a four-minute virtual reality video showing Pororo the little penguin visiting the operating room and explaining what is in the operating room in a friendly manner.

Senior author Dr. Sung-Hee Han said that medical practice has been changing a great deal with the convergence of ICT -- information and communications technology -- and healthcare.The results showed that how medicine and ICT can be coordinated to achieve clinical significance.More studies and investigations are expected in line with the current trend.The article is included in a themed issue on paediatric surgery.The research appears in British Journal of Surgery.