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Updated: Mar 9, 2026
Perspectives on Neuroscience
Published on: July 31, 2007
Pain Neuroscience Education: State of the Art and Application in Pediatrics
Hannah Robins1, Victoria Perron2, Lauren C Heathcote3
1Division of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, MA 02115, USA. hrobins4@binghamton.edu.
Insights
Pediatric chronic pain management benefits from pain neuroscience education (PNE). This review explores PNE
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pain Management
- Biobehavioral Interventions
- Pain Neuroscience Education
Background:
- Chronic pain significantly impacts children, necessitating effective biobehavioral interventions.
- Treatment rationale is crucial for patient and parent adherence, especially contrasting chronic pain with acute injury management.
- Psychoeducation, or pain neuroscience education (PNE), is a key component in many pediatric pain treatments.
Approach:
- This topical review examines the current state and application of pain neuroscience education (PNE) in pediatric chronic pain.
- It synthesizes existing literature, highlighting the limited research in this specific population.
- The review aims to describe the emerging field of PNE for pediatric chronic pain.
Key Points:
- Pain neuroscience education (PNE) offers a promising approach for pediatric chronic pain.
- Understanding the rationale behind treatment is vital for engagement and adherence.
- Tailoring PNE for pediatric populations is essential due to developmental and psychological differences.
Conclusions:
- Further research is needed to explore and validate PNE for pediatric chronic pain.
- Developing tailored PNE strategies can enhance treatment outcomes for children with chronic pain.
- This review calls for increased attention and work on PNE in pediatric pain management.
Abstract:
Chronic pain is a widespread problem in the field of pediatrics. Many interventions to ameliorate pain-related dysfunction have a biobehavioral focus. As treatments for chronic pain (e.g., increased movement) often stand in stark contrast to treatments for an acute injury (e.g., rest), providing a solid rationale for treatment is necessary to gain patient and parent buy-in. Most pain treatment interventions incorporate psychoeducation, or pain neuroscience education (PNE), as an essential component, and in some cases, as a stand-alone approach. The current topical review focuses on the state of pain neuroscience education and its application to pediatric chronic pain. As very little research has examined pain neuroscience education in pediatrics, we aim to describe this emerging area and catalyze further work on this important topic. As the present literature has generally focused on adults with chronic pain, pain neuroscience education merits further attention in the realm of pediatric pain in order to be tailored and implemented in this population.
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