Normalizing: postoperative acute abdominal surgical pain in Thai children

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Surgery
• Pain Management
• Qualitative Research

Background:

• Postoperative pain is a significant concern in pediatric surgical patients.
• Understanding the subjective experience of pain is crucial for effective management.
• Limited research exists on the specific pain experiences of young Thai children following abdominal surgery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore and understand the postoperative pain experience in Thai children aged 5 to 7 years.
• To identify the core processes involved in managing pain from the child's perspective.
• To generate hypotheses regarding factors influencing pain reduction in this population.

Main Methods:

• Employed a grounded theory approach to investigate the core process of pain experience.
• Collected data from 15 Thai children (aged 5-7) who underwent abdominal surgery.
• Utilized interviews, observations, and drawing/play interviews for comprehensive data gathering.

Main Results:

• Identified 'normalizing' as a key process children engage in during their recovery.
• Children's efforts to normalize their experience were central to their pain management.
• The study suggests a link between the child's ability to normalize and pain perception.

Conclusions:

• Creating an environment conducive to normalization may significantly contribute to pain reduction.
• Findings highlight the importance of psychosocial factors in pediatric postoperative pain.
• Further research into environmental interventions supporting normalization is warranted.