<p>Wearing a big grin, Marame clambers into the small electric sports car and drives off -- to the operating theatre.</p>.<p>The five-year-old girl is a patient at the public hospital in the northern French city of Valenciennes, which has begun using toys rather than drugs to alleviate children's fears of surgery.</p>.<p>The new scheme is for youngsters aged 18 months to eight years. The playful approach, implemented in December, has wiped out the need for anti-anxiety medication often administered before an operation, according to the hospital.</p>.<p>"It allows (children) to arrive in the operating theatre in a fun manner and avoids the stress associated with the context," anaesthetist Fanny Defrancq said.</p>.<p>Sitting on a hospital bed, Marame looks worried ahead of her surgery to remove a metal pin inserted into her arm after she broke her elbow. But then a nurse comes in and leads her to three small vehicles parked in the corridor.</p>.<p>"Which one do you prefer?" the nurse asks Marame, dressed in a blue hospital gown and with a white cap covering her hair. After carefully inspecting the models and testing out their horns, the little girl gets behind the wheel of a black racing car and cruises off under the envious glances of other young patients.<br />A remote control in hand, a medical staff member steers Marame down hallways and around corners all the way to the operating theatre.</p>.<p>"She doesn't even take any notice of me," says her bemused mother, Hassiba Mazouzi, after giving her a last hug.</p>.<p>The distraction method has seen a major drop in children's anxiety and led to an 80% decrease in the use of medication, the Rennes hospital said.</p>.<p>"Children's self-evaluation with emoticons showed that anxiety curves were very low and stable," a doctor said.</p>.<p class="byline">AFP</p>
<p>Wearing a big grin, Marame clambers into the small electric sports car and drives off -- to the operating theatre.</p>.<p>The five-year-old girl is a patient at the public hospital in the northern French city of Valenciennes, which has begun using toys rather than drugs to alleviate children's fears of surgery.</p>.<p>The new scheme is for youngsters aged 18 months to eight years. The playful approach, implemented in December, has wiped out the need for anti-anxiety medication often administered before an operation, according to the hospital.</p>.<p>"It allows (children) to arrive in the operating theatre in a fun manner and avoids the stress associated with the context," anaesthetist Fanny Defrancq said.</p>.<p>Sitting on a hospital bed, Marame looks worried ahead of her surgery to remove a metal pin inserted into her arm after she broke her elbow. But then a nurse comes in and leads her to three small vehicles parked in the corridor.</p>.<p>"Which one do you prefer?" the nurse asks Marame, dressed in a blue hospital gown and with a white cap covering her hair. After carefully inspecting the models and testing out their horns, the little girl gets behind the wheel of a black racing car and cruises off under the envious glances of other young patients.<br />A remote control in hand, a medical staff member steers Marame down hallways and around corners all the way to the operating theatre.</p>.<p>"She doesn't even take any notice of me," says her bemused mother, Hassiba Mazouzi, after giving her a last hug.</p>.<p>The distraction method has seen a major drop in children's anxiety and led to an 80% decrease in the use of medication, the Rennes hospital said.</p>.<p>"Children's self-evaluation with emoticons showed that anxiety curves were very low and stable," a doctor said.</p>.<p class="byline">AFP</p>