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NCT Number: NCT07375511

The Contribution of Accelerated Recovery (mERAS) Approach to Postoperative Recovery in Pediatric Laparoscopic Surgery Cases

Pediatric laparoscopic surgery is a gold standard across all ages, offering benefits like smaller incisions, faster recovery, and better cosmetic outcomes. However, because children require more precise hemodynamic and respiratory management than adults, specialized perioperative care is essential. This study aims to evaluate the impact of a multidisciplinary Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) approach on children aged 4-12, specifically measuring its effect on postoperative pain, nausea, thirst, fear levels, and the overall recovery process.

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Key information

Conditions

mERAS Intervention The ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists) Score The Patient Must be Between 4 and 12 Years Old

Age range

6 year–12 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

The patient must be between 4 and 12 years old,
The ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists) score must be 1 or 2,
The parent(s) must be cognitively competent to give consent. Exclusion Criteria
The child/parents must refuse to participate in the study,
The presence of comorbidities that interfere with mobilization or oral feeding (which impairs the pain score),
Chronic pain syndrome or regular opioid use,
Previous major surgery in the same area (which may affect healing and pain experience).

Treatment and study plan

mERAS Protocol

Other

mERAS Protocol Patient Group 1. Preoperative Period: Preparation and Education Within the scope of the mERAS protocol, both the child and their family are evaluated with a holistic approach in the preoperative period and prepared for the surgical process; this process is structured in accordance with the current ERAS guidelines for pediatric applications. Education and Counseling The child and their family will receive detailed information covering the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative processes. The child will be educated on preparing for the surgical experience using age-appropriate audiovisual materials; the family will be informed about the basic components of the recovery process, expected outcomes, and the contributions of the ERAS protocol. In addition, regular internal training for the surgeon, nurses, and anesthesia team will be provided to increase the applicability of the protocol and team cohesion. Preoperative Interventions

Patient and Family Information: P

Primary outcomes

Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale

Time frame: 7 DAY

Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale (Appendix 2): This is a visual self-assessment tool developed to evaluate the physical pain levels of individuals aged three years and older based on their own reports. The scale, consisting of six facial expressions, is scored from 0 = "no pain" to 10 = "very severe pain," and the child is asked to choose the face that best expresses the pain they are experiencing. It is a frequently used, valid, and understandable method for evaluating acute pain, especially in children who have difficulty verbally describing pain (Wong & Baker, 1988; Cohen et al., 2008).

In this study, the postoperative pain levels of all children in the 4-12 age group will be evaluated using the Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale. In each measurement, the facial expressions will be explained to the children according to the standard instructions of the scale, and they will be asked to choose the face that best reflects the pain they are experiencing. The visual form of the scale
Baxter Animated Retching Faces Scale (BARF)

Time frame: 7 days

The Baxter Animated Retching Faces (BARF) Scale, developed by Baxter et al., is a self-report tool that assesses the severity of nausea using six-stage visual facial expressions ranging from "no nausea" to "severe nausea/vomiting." The faces on the scale are ordered to represent increasing levels of nausea (Baxter et al., 2011; Şişman et al., 2016).
Visual Thirst Scale

Time frame: 7 days

Visual Thirst Scale: The Visual Analog Scale (VAS) will be used to assess the severity of thirst in the postoperative period. On this scale, a value of 0 represents "no thirst" and a value of 10 represents "the most severe thirst the patient has ever felt." This approach is consistent with the method used by Conchon and Fonseca in their perioperative thirst studies to quantitatively assess the subjective severity of thirst (Conchon & Fonseca, 2015).
Children's Fear Scale

Time frame: 7 days

Children's Fear Scale: by McMurtry et al. (2011), the Children's Fear Scale is a visual self-assessment scale consisting of five facial expressions, scored between "no fear" (0) and "very frightened facial expression" (4), used to assess the level of fear experienced by children during medical procedures. The adaptation and validity-reliability study of the scale into Turkish was carried out by Gerçeker et al. (2018). No permission is required for clinical and research use of this scale (Children's Fear Scale - https://www.uoguelph.ca/pphc/childrens-fear-scale).

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Emel Yürük

Other

Registry information

Acronym: Accelerated Re

Important dates

Study start: 2026
Primary completion: 2026
Study completion: 2026
First posted: Jan 29, 2026
Registry last updated: Jun 23, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

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This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.