Use of Instructional Therapeutic Play during the preoperative nursing consultation of a child with orofacial clefts.
Mariana Martire Mori, Camila Moraes Garollo Piran, Alana Vitória Escritori Cargnin et al.
✦ AI-curated · Sources linked
Case in brief
An 8-year-old girl with an orofacial cleft was preparing for cleft palate repair and expressed fear and anxiety about surgery, especially that she might not wake up after anesthesia. During a preoperative nursing consultation, instructional therapeutic play was used alongside book reading and drawing. The activities helped her understand the procedure and express her concerns; by the end of the session, she reported feeling calmer.
Diagnostic / clinical pearl
Instructional therapeutic play, combined with reading and drawing, can help a child preparing for cleft palate repair understand the procedure and voice specific fears, including concerns about anesthesia.