Virtual Parental Presence on Induction of Anesthesia vs Premedication With Midazolam

April 21, 2026 updated by: Thomas Caruso, Stanford University

Virtual Parental Presence on Induction of Anesthesia Versus Premedication With Midazolam: A Non-Inferiority Study

This multi-center, prospective, clinical trial targets recruiting children undergoing inhalational induction of anesthesia. The primary objective of this study is to assess the Modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale during induction between children receiving oral midazolam 0.5 mg/kg (max 20 mg) versus virtual parental presence on induction of anesthesia. Patients will be randomized to one of two groups by block randomization.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Withdrawn

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • children from ages 4 years to 8 years old undergoing outpatient surgery
  • children identified as needing premedication
  • ASA physical status I, II or III
  • planned inhalational induction
  • children presenting from home prior to surgery (not an inpatient)
  • English speaking parents and child

Exclusion Criteria:

  • children with developmental delay
  • children with psychological / emotional disorders
  • children with altered mental status
  • children in whom midazolam may be medically contraindicated per the discretion of the anesthesia care team
  • children with language barrier
  • children who are not accompanied by someone able to consent (ie legal guardian)
  • children who are inpatient prior to surgery
  • children with expected difficult intubation/airway
  • children presenting for emergency surgery
  • family history or personal history of malignant hyperthermia / risk of MH
  • consent not obtained or withdrawal of consent
  • children with past history of violent behaviors during induction of anesthesia
  • cancellation of surgery
  • patients with a diagnosis of COVID-19 or a patient under investigation for COVID-19, including patients being treated with airborne precautions in the operating room
  • receipt of any type of medical sedative prior to induction of anesthesia, including (but not limited to) ketamine, and/or dexmedetomidine.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Midazolam Group
0.5 mg/kg oral midazolam (max 20 mg) will be given preoperatively.
Behavioral: Midazolam
Preoperative midazolam (0.5 mg/kg of oral midazolam with a maximum dose of 20mg) will be given unless medically contraindicated.
Experimental: Virtual Parental Presence on Induction of Anesthesia group
Use of Facetime with child and parents during induction
Behavioral: Virtual Parental Presence on Induction of Anesthesia
Apple Inc's FaceTime™ video application will be used when the child is taken to the operating room
Other Names:
  • VPPIA

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change of Anxiety in children
Time Frame: baseline, immediately after the intervention
We will be using the modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (mYPAS) which was developed specifically to measure anxiety at anesthesia induction. It looks at activity, facial expression, alertness and arousal, vocalization and interaction with adults. It has a good validity against the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children, as well as good intra and inter-observer reliability. mYPAS contains 5 items (activity, vocalisation, emotional expressivity, state of apparent arousal, and use of parent). The total score ranges from 0 to 22. Higher scores mean higher levels of anxiety.
baseline, immediately after the intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Induction compliance
Time Frame: immediately during anesthetic induction
The Induction Compliance Checklist (ICC) is a validated observational scale, used to describe the compliance of a child during induction of anesthesia. ICC contains 10 items. Score ranges from 0 to 1. 0 point indicates the behavior is not observed while 1 point means behavior is observed.
immediately during anesthetic induction
Change of parental anxiety
Time Frame: baseline, immediately after anesthetic induction
The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) is the gold standard for assessing anxiety in adults and has been used in over 1000 studies. It is comprises 20 questions. The total score ranges from 0-63. 0-9 indicates normal or no anxiety; 10-18 indicates mild to moderate anxiety; 19-29 indicates moderate to severe anxiety; and 30-63 indicates severe anxiety.
baseline, immediately after anesthetic induction

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Stanford University

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Nationwide Children's Hospital

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Vanessa Olbrecht, MD, MBA, Nationwide Children's Hospital

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
July 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 31, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 11, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 25, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 28, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
April 24, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 21, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 69571

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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