Application of animated cartoons in reducing the pain of dressing changes in children with burn injuries.

BACKGROUND: Nonpharmacological management remains one of the central pain interventional therapies in the burn unit. VR and other distraction treatments for adults have achieved great advantages in pain relief.

METHODS: A within-subject study was conducted to evaluate 54 participants aged from 3 to 7. In the control group, a standard analgesic, ibuprofen, was used over the period of dressing change, whereas animated cartoons were played simultaneously in the intervention-group condition. We adopted the Wong-Baker faces pain rating scale, COMFORT scale, FLACC scale and POCIS to assess the pain rating 5 min before, during and 5 min after dressing changes, respectively.

RESULTS: Compared with the control group, FLACC scale and POCIS scores in the intervention group were not significantly different (P>0.05) throughout the observation period; outcomes measured using the Wong-Baker faces pain rating scale and COMFORT scale 5 min before and during dressing changes were also not different between the groups (P>0.05). Nevertheless, 5 min after that period, subjects in the intervention group had reduced pain behavior according to scores on the Wong-Baker faces pain rating scale (control-group scores: 7.231±0.403; intervention-group scores: 6.026±0.501, P<0.05) and COMFORT scale (control-group scores: 21.602±1.316; intervention-group scores: 19.040±1.204, P<0.05).

CONCLUSION: This study supports that watching animated cartoons appears to be a practical way to ease the pain behavior of children in the burn unit after replacing wound dressings, although its effectiveness remains insufficient before and during the dressing change procedure.

SIGNIFICANCE: Conducting a thorough study and exploring the efficacy of animated cartoons in reducing the pain of dressing changes for pediatric patients may surely result in practical value, especially in developing countries.