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[Pediatric inpatient interdisciplinary multimodal pain treatment in Germany]
Julia Wager1,2, Boris Zernikow3,4
1Deutsches Kinderschmerzzentrum, Vestische Kinder- und Jugendklinik Datteln, Datteln, Deutschland. j.wager@deutsches-kinderschmerzzentrum.de.
Insights
Inpatient interdisciplinary multimodal pain treatment (IMPT) in Germany shows positive effects on pain and emotional burden in children. Further research is needed to optimize these pediatric pain management programs.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pain Management
- Chronic Pain in Children
- Interdisciplinary Pain Treatment
Context:
- Chronic pain significantly impacts over 500,000 children in Germany.
- Unimodal treatments are often insufficient for severe, disabling chronic pain.
- Inpatient interdisciplinary multimodal pain treatment (IMPT) offers an alternative when other methods fail.
Purpose:
- To review the availability of pediatric inpatient IMPT in Germany.
- To evaluate the current evidence on the effectiveness of pediatric inpatient IMPT.
- To describe treatment approaches, personnel qualifications, and patient demographics.
Summary:
- Four specialized pediatric pain centers in Germany offer inpatient IMPT.
- Treatment involves a multiprofessional team over 3-4 weeks for patients up to 18 years.
- Studies show positive outcomes in pain characteristics and emotional burden up to 4 years post-treatment.
Impact:
- Pediatric inpatient IMPT demonstrates effectiveness in improving children's pain and emotional well-being.
- Additional treatment modules can further enhance therapeutic outcomes.
- Continued research is vital for refining and optimizing existing IMPT programs.
Background:
Severely disabling chronic pain affects approximately half a million children in Germany. If there is a lack of response to unimodal treatment, an inpatient interdisciplinary multimodal pain treatment (IMPT) can be considered.
Objective:
This review article describes the supply situation of pediatric inpatient IMPT in Germany and presents the current evidence on the effectiveness.
Material And Methods:
Based on a systematic literature search, studies addressing the effectiveness of pediatric inpatient IMPT in Germany were identified. In addition, further sources were used to extract information on pediatric IMPT treatment centers in Germany in order to describe the treatment approaches, the qualification of personnel and characteristics of patients.
Results:
There are four pediatric pain centers in Germany that are specialized in inpatient IMPT for children and adolescents. Treatment duration ranges between 3 and 4 weeks. The multimodal treatment is carried out by a multiprofessional team and is generally available for patients up to 18 years. The majority of patients are female. The effectiveness of pediatric IMPT in Germany was investigated up to 4 years after treatment. Positive effects were shown for pain characteristics and also for the emotional burden. Additional treatment modules can facilitate further optimization of treatment effects.
Conclusion:
Further research on the effectiveness of IMPT in Germany is important in order to refine and optimize the available treatment programs.
