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Managing pain and distress in children undergoing brief diagnostic and therapeutic procedures
Evelyne D Trottier1, Marie-Joëlle Doré-Bergeron1, Laurel Chauvin-Kimoff1
1Canadian Paediatric Society, Acute Care Committee, Hospital Paediatrics Section, Community Paediatrics Section, Paediatric Emergency Medicine Section, Ottawa, Ontario.
Insights
Pediatric pain management requires simple, evidence-based strategies for common medical procedures. Combining these techniques improves the experience for children, parents, and healthcare providers.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Medicine
- Pain Management
- Clinical Practice Guidelines
Background:
- Medical procedures can cause significant pain and distress in children.
- Effective pain and distress management is crucial for pediatric patients undergoing common procedures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review evidence-based strategies for minimizing pain and distress in infants, children, and youth during common medical procedures.
- To provide guidance for integrating these strategies into routine clinical practice.
Main Methods:
- Review of simple, evidence-based strategies for pain and distress management.
- Guidance for health professionals on combining minimally invasive approaches and pain-minimizing techniques.
- Recommendations for health administrators on policy, education, environment, resources, and quality audits.
Main Results:
- Simple, evidence-based strategies can effectively minimize pain and distress.
- Combining strategies enhances the experience for patients, parents, and providers.
- Systemic changes by administrators are vital for optimal pain management.
Conclusions:
- Integrating simple pain and distress-minimizing strategies is essential healthcare.
- A multi-faceted approach involving clinicians and administrators is necessary for optimal pediatric pain management.
- Creating child- and youth-friendly environments and ensuring resource availability are key administrative roles.
Abstract:
Common medical procedures to assess and treat patients can cause significant pain and distress. Clinicians should have a basic approach for minimizing pain and distress in children, particularly for frequently used diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. This statement focuses on infants (excluding care provided in the NICU), children, and youth who are undergoing common, minor but painful medical procedures. Simple, evidence-based strategies for managing pain and distress are reviewed, with guidance for integrating them into clinical practice as an essential part of health care. Health professionals are encouraged to use minimally invasive approaches and, when painful procedures are unavoidable, to combine simple pain and distress-minimizing strategies to improve the patient, parent, and health care provider experience. Health administrators are encouraged to create institutional policies, improve education and access to guidelines, create child- and youth-friendly environments, ensure availability of appropriate staff, equipment and pharmacological agents, and perform quality audits to ensure pain management is optimal.
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