Pain assessment and management: The knowledge, attitude and practice of Sudanese Paediatric Residents

This was a prospective, descriptive, cross sectional study that was conducted in 9 major paediatric hospitals accredited for training of residents in Sudan to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of residents in paediatrics on issues related to pain assessment and pain management in children A semi-structured and validated questionnaire was distributed to 174 residents working in these hospitals. One hundred and twenty residents, out of 174, responded by filling the questionnaire, with a response rate of 68%. Seventy percent of them said they had never received any kind of training, education, or learning sessions in paediatric pain assessment and management during their training, 60% were not aware of any pain assessment scale/tool. One third of residents thought opioids are contraindicated for chronic pain relief in children, as dependence and/or addiction would occur after short use. While attitude towards importance of pain control in children was generally good among surveyed residents (75%), two thirds of them had never used topical anaesthetic cream/lotion, while 40% of them had never used non-nutritive sucking and/or sucrose in neonates. In addition, more than a third had rarely used lubricant gel for nasogastric tube insertion. In conclusion, Sudanese paediatric residents in training had poor knowledge and training in paediatric pain assessment and treatment, however, the majority of them recognized the importance of pain control in children.