Parental assessment and management of children's postoperative pain: a randomized clinical trial

Abstract

As day case surgery increases, one needs to improve the management of pain in children at home. This study wished to determine whether the use of a self-report pain scale would result in children receiving more analgesia. Eighty-eight children aged four to 12 years undergoing tonsillectomy, whose parents agreed they could participate, were randomly assigned into two groups. Group A received the routine postoperative advice and a three-day prescription of paracetamol, ibuprofen and codeine. In addition, group B used the Wong—Baker Faces Pain Scale. Seventy-two children completed the study. There was no difference in the total number of analgesics administered to children in the two groups ( p = 0.26, Mann— Whitney U-test). It appears that a self-report pain scale does not improve the postoperative management of pain in children at home.