Procedural Preparation and Support as a Standard of Care in Pediatric Oncology

Youth with cancer undergo many repeated and invasive medical procedures that are often painful and highly distressing. A systematic review of published research since 1995 identified 65 papers (11 review articles and 54 empirical studies) that investigated preparatory information and psychological interventions for a variety ofmedical procedures in pediatric cancer. Distraction, combined cognitive-behavioral strategies, and hypnosis were identified as effective for reducing child pain and increasing child coping. Lowto high-quality evidence informed strong recommendations for all youth with cancer to receive developmentally appropriate preparatory information and psychological intervention for invasive medical procedures. (C) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.