Age-appropriate multidisciplinary approach to young children with cancer undergoing radiotherapy: The SIESTA procedure

Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2021 Jan;68(1):e28650. doi: 10.1002/pbc.28650. Epub 2020 Aug 11.

Abstract

A standardized multidisciplinary step-by-step approach to improve the compliance of young (or difficult) children having to undergo radiotherapy was described and applied. The procedure is called SIESTA, which stands for show-imagination-evaluation-support-treatment-anesthesia. Preliminary assessments suggest that the SIESTA approach was effective: the rate of young patients (≤6 years) requiring anesthesia decreased from 27% (14/52 cases) in 2011-2012 (before the procedure was adopted) to 13% (6/46) in 2018.

Keywords: compliance; multidisciplinary approach; radiotherapy; sedation; therapeutic alliance; young children.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anesthesia, General / methods*
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Conscious Sedation / methods*
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Interdisciplinary Communication*
  • Male
  • Neoplasms / radiotherapy*
  • Patient Compliance / statistics & numerical data*
  • Prognosis
  • Radiation Oncology / standards*