Laughing gas used to ease pain, anxiety for kids' medical procedures

WILMINGTON, Del. (WPVI) -- A local children's hospital is using a simple technique to help calm young patients.

Laughing gas is something often seen in a dentist's office, but is it is also now making it's way into some hospitals.

18-year-old Cody Coleman survived leukemia as a child, but chemotherapy damaged his immune system.

So to prevent infections, doctors give him a 3-hour infusion of gamma globulin once a month.

But starting an I-V has always been a battle with Cody. "My husband would literally have to be on top of him," recalls Cody's mother Cindy.

Sometimes, it took 4 or 5 hospital staffers to subdue him.

The experience of Cody's mother as a dental assistant gave her an idea. "I know nitrous oxide works very well on anxiety for dental patients," she says.

She began calling area hospitals, to see if any used it for outpatients.

Finally, she discovered Nemours/A.I DuPont hospital has been using the gas, known as laughing gas, for 6 years.

"How are you buddy?" says Keith Fishlock, the Certified Nurse Specialist who leads the sedation team, as he greets Cody.

The two have become close during Cody's monthly visits.

Fishlock says nitrous oxide has many benefits.

"It offers amnesia, so it helps people forget procedures. It offers pain control," he says. "It also offers anxiety reduction."

The gas mask can be customized for a child with a different flavors of chapstick.

"Cody really enjoys strawberry, cotton candy, or bubble gum," he notes..

After the mask is on and the nitrous oxide starts, Cody relaxes. The IV is placed and then the gas is stopped.

"It leaves your body immediately. Pretty awesome," says Cindy Coleman.

Fishlock says if you give too much gas a child can get nauseous, but his team has learned how to avoid that.

Nitrous oxide is now being used at DuPont for situations like Cody's, as well as in the cancer unit, and emergency room.

"Any quick, painful procedure that's about 10 minutes in length or less would be a great candidate for nitrous oxide," says Fishlock.

"It's so much better for him, and everyone involved," says a relieved Cindy Coleman.

Fishlock says DuPont sedates about 5-thousand kids a year this way.

But it's not done commonly at many other hospitals. In this area, nitrous oxide is generally only used prior to general anesthesia for surgery.