Pain prevalence, intensity, assessment and management in a hospitalized pediatric population.

New research, regulatory guidelines, and practice initiatives have improved pain management in infants, children, and adolescents, but obstacles remain. The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence and demographics of pain, as well as pain management practice patterns in hospitalized children in a tertiary-care university hospital. We prospectively collected data including patient demographics, presence/absence and location of pain, pain intensity, pain assessment documentation, analgesic use, side effects of analgesic therapy, and patient/family satisfaction. Two hundred male (58%) and female, medical and surgical (61%) patients, averaging 9 ± 6.2 years were studied. Pain was common (86%) and often moderate to severe (40%). Surgical patients reported pain more frequently when enrolled than did medical patients (99% vs. 65%). Female gender, age ≥ 5 years, and Caucasian race were all associated with higher mean pain scores. Furthermore, females and Caucasian children consumed more opioids than males and non-Caucasians. Identified obstacles to optimal analgesic management include lack of documented physician pain assessment (<5%), a high prevalence of "as needed" analgesic dosing, frequent opioid-induced side effects (44% nausea and vomiting, 27% pruritus), and patient/family dissatisfaction with pain management (2%-7%). The data demonstrated that despite a concentrated focus on improving pain management over the past decade, pain remains common in hospitalized children. Identification of patient populations and characteristics that predispose to increased pain (e.g., female, Caucasian, postoperative patient) as well as obstacles to analgesic management provide a focus for the development of targeted interventions and research to further improve care.

The effects of a small-dose naloxone infusion on opioid-induced side effects and analgesia in children and adolescents treated with intravenous patient-controlled analgesia: a double-blind, prospective, randomized, controlled study.

Opioids are frequently associated with side effects such as nausea, vomiting, and pruritus. We hypothesized that a prophylactic, continuous small-dose naloxone infusion would reduce the incidence of opioid-induced side effects without affecting analgesia or opioid consumption. In this prospective, double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial, we studied 46 postoperative patients (M:F, 21:25), averaging 14 +/- 2.5 yr and 53 +/- 17 kg, at the start of morphine IV patient-controlled analgesia. Patients were randomized to either saline (control, n = 26) or naloxone 0.25 microg . kg(-1) . h(-1) (n = 20). We found that the incidence and severity of pruritus (77% versus 20%; P < 0.05) and nausea (70% versus 35%; P < 0.05) was significantly more frequent in the placebo group compared with the naloxone group. Morphine consumption (1.02 +/- 0.41 mg . kg(-1) . d(-1) versus 1.28 +/- 0.61 mg . kg(-1) . d(-1)), pain scores at rest (4 +/- 2 versus 3 +/- 2), and pain scores with coughing (6 +/- 2 versus 6 +/- 2) were not different. We conclude that, in children and adolescents, a small-dose naloxone infusion (0.25 microg . kg(-1) . h(-1)) can significantly reduce the incidence and severity of opioid-induced side effects without affecting opioid-induced analgesia. When initiating morphine IV patient-controlled analgesia for the treatment of moderate to severe pain, clinicians should strongly consider starting a concomitant small-dose naloxone infusion.