[Cartoons, local anesthesia and nitrous oxide: a solution for the treatment of child's hands wounds].

Wounds and injuries of child's hands are common and create anxiety. The context of stress makes difficult therapeutic cares, anesthesia and surgery, and prevents child's cooperation. We propose a technique combining a local anesthesia performed during inhalation of oxygen and nitrous oxide, and child distraction by watching a cartoon. In a prospective series of 39 children, we evaluated the feasibility of such care and its impact on the child's anxiety by a visual analog scale (VAS) at three moments of care sequence: arrival of the child (EVA1), at the end of the cartoon (EVA2), and at the postoperative visit (EVA3). Thirty-seven children were included (94.9%). Mean anxiety decreased throughout the therapeutic course: EVA1 (5.6), EVA2 (2.97), EVA3 (1.4). Children were less and less anxious along the procedure (100%, 46%, 10.8%, respectively). All children could be treated as outpatients. This procedure allows a rapid and adapted treatment for children's hand injuries. It reduces impact of children's anxiety.