Clowning around may be good medicine for kids facing surgery.
This study included children ages 2 to 16 undergoing outpatient urologic surgery at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. The children were divided into two groups — in one group, the surgical team included a “medical clown” in the operating room to help entertain the kids.
The results suggest a funny intervention can make a serious impact on kids’ well-being: The clown’s antics were tied to less anxiety for kids before and after surgery, less time in the operating room, lower levels of pain, and shorter time to discharge from the hospital, the study found.
