The use of dolls as a teaching aid for children undergoing treatment with the flashlamp-pulsed tunable dye laser

Assessment of the Readability, Adequacy, and Suitability of Online Patient Education Resources for Benign Vascular Tumours Using the DISCERN Instrument

Objective

This study aims to assess the quality and readability of Internet-based patient resources for vascular tumours in order to understand which areas require improvement.

Methods

A World Wide Web search was performed, in addition to a literature review using PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, and EMBASE. Any material that contained information on vascular tumours pertaining to patient education was included. We evaluated resources with DISCERN and Flesch Reading Ease scores when applicable. The language of publication was restricted to English and French. This review was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42018087885).

Results

A total of 117 online resources were screened, with 73 resources included in the final analysis. The overall DISCERN rating for the patient resources was 1.8 (0.8). The majority of online resources failed to depict the entire spectrum of benign vascular tumours. The mean Flesch score was 36 (19), which translates to a college-level readability.

Conclusion

The majority of resources were not adequate or comprehensive and were written at a much higher level than the average reader would be expected to comprehend.

Pulsed laser treatment in children and the use of anesthesia

BACKGROUND

The rationale for choosing certain anesthetic options in children when they are being treated with pulsed lasers is unclear.

OBJECTIVE

Our purpose was to assess the safety and side effects of general anesthesia in the treatment of vascular lesions and to compare this to treatment outcome in the office setting.

METHODS

We carried out a retrospective chart review of 179 patients, with an age range of 5 weeks to 18 years, who received laser treatment and underwent different anesthetic modalities. The age of the patient and the size, location, and severity of the vascular lesion were also noted.

RESULTS

The factors determining the type of anesthesia to use included (1) the age of the patient, (2) the number of treatments, and (3) the size and location of the lesion. Our data showed minimal risk and sequelae of general anesthesia in the treatment of vascular lesions in children.

CONCLUSION

Proper selection of anesthesia is a key factor in dealing with children. Office surgery can be performed safely when small lesions are treated. The use of general anesthesia in the treatment of port-wine stains in children does not appear to be accompanied by increased risk.

Pulsed dye laser therapy for infants and children

Pulsed dye laser therapy has revolutionized the treatment of benign vascular neoplasms of the skin. Treatment is safe and generally effective in children of all ages. Because of the pain associated with the treatment, special techniques are discussed that may minimize the physical and psychological traumas associated with treatment.

Pulsed dye laser therapy for port-wine stains in children: psychosocial and ethical issues

The port-wine stain is a disfiguring vascular birthmark that commonly occurs on the face. Amelioration of this condition in children was difficult or impossible until the introduction of the flashlamp-pumped pulsed dye laser in the late 1980s. This article provides an interdisciplinary social and ethical examination of pulsed dye laser therapy for port-wine stain in childhood. Specific issues raised relate to the management of pain during therapy, rationale for care, expectations of treatment, the high costs of care, equity, marketing pressures, and therapeutic activism. Laser therapy in the dermatologic care of children is an exciting innovation that has transformed clinical practice and raised important social, ethical, and health policy issues.