Computer games are as good as drugs at helping children relax before operations, a study found. Boys and girls that played on an iPad ahead of surgery were just as calm as those given powerful sedatives. And their parents were happier overall. The find comes from a French study of 112 children aged four to ten who were having day surgery. Half were given a sedative ahead of the anaesthetic, to calm their nerves and to help the actual anaesthetic take better. These ‘pre-meds’ are often given to young children but can also be used to help anxious adults relax. The other youngsters were given an iPad loaded with games 20 minutes before being wheeled into the operating theatre. Finally, the children, their parents and the theatre nurses were asked a battery of questions. The answers revealed the iPads to be as good as the midazolam sedative at controlling the children’s anxiety. Plus, the nurses were more satisfied and the parents were happier overall, the World Congress of Anaesthesiologists annual conference in Hong Kong heard. Researcher Dominique Chassard, of the Hospices Civils de Lyon, said: ‘Our study showed that child and parental anxiety before anaesthesia are equally blunted by midazolam or use of the iPad. “Use of iPads or other tablet devices is a non-pharmacologic tool which can reduce stress without any sedative effect in paediatric surgery.” Dr Chassard doesn’t explain why the computer games were so helpful. But possible reasons range from simple distraction to the familiarity of playing on a computer making the experience feel less medical and so less threatening. Previous British research has found that a simple conversation can help patients relax during surgery. The University of Surrey study found chatting to a nurse and squeezing a stress ball to be better at easing stress and pain than listening to music or watching a film. The researchers said that having a nurse chat to a patient while holding their hand could be a simple and inexpensive way of making operations done without general anaesthetic more pleasant.