Surgery is a scary moment for all of us, but it’s even more frightening for a child. And if that child has special needs or is on the spectrum, it can be absolutely traumatic. These patients may not understand what is happening or that they are about to be operated on, which could cause them to become irritated and act out.

In the past, the solution was simply to medicate them. In fact, 90% of children requiring surgery at Dayton Children’s once required pre-surgery calming medication.

That’s why the hospital has innovated its sensory-friendly surgery experience. This program was originally created for children with autism spectrum disorder, but it is now available for children with a variety of special needs and higher anxieties.

Led by pediatric anesthesiologist Dr. Sean Antosh, MD, a team of hospital employees worked together to create the pre-op sensory-friendly rooms. These specially built environments create a more relaxed, soothing and distracting experience for the patients—all without the need for more medication.

To properly fill these rooms with the right Multi-Sensory Environment (MSE) equipment, Dayton Children’s partnered with Southpaw. From our bubble tubes and fiber optics to interactive marble panels, projectors, weighted blankets and more, we guided the team and helped them select tools that would answer a wide variety of patient needs.

Dr. Antosh said, “Our sensory program for surgical patients has really evolved over the last six years. By creating a sensory-friendly experience for kids before surgery, it removes triggers and allows kids to feel more comfortable and calmer while the medical team prepares them for surgery.”

Since the start of the sensory program in 2017, these rooms have helped reduce the amount of pre-surgery calming medicine from 90% to 20%. That’s one of the many reasons why Parents Magazine named the hospital as one of the top 15 children’s hospitals in innovation and technology for its sensory program.

Southpaw is proud to have worked on this project, especially because it’s so close to home in Dayton as well as close to our hearts. It allowed us to leverage our industry-leading MSE experience to help children during some of the most stressful times in their lives. It’s been an honor working with the team at Dayton Children’s as they transform the way they care for some of their youngest and most vulnerable patients.