Toddler: Pain

Question 1

What are the physical consequences of unrelieved acute pain?

Answer 1

• Rapid breathing - Hypoxemia
• inadequate lung expansion - Atelectasis
• Increased stress hormones - Increases metabolic rate, impairs healing, decreases immune function
• Impaired gastric motility - Nausea and constipation

Question 2

What are some barriers to pain management in children?

Answer 2

• Dont know level = undertreating
• Cannot express pain (assessment)
• addiction

Question 3

What are the short-term consequences of pain?

Answer 3

• Immediate suffering
• Slower healing
• Increased complications
• Functional limitations (impaired sleep/eating/play, school absence, work missed by caregivers)
• Decreased health related quality of life

Question 4

What are long-term consequences of pain?

Answer 4

• Altered pain processing
• Post-traumatic stress symptoms
• Pathophysiologic neural alterations
• Distorted pain memories
• Future health-care avoidance

Question 5

What does the comfort care plan include?

Answer 5

• make a plan
• apply numbing cream
• use comfort positions
• breastfeed or use sucrose
• use distraction
• use positive language

Question 6

What is the wong-baker faces pain rating scale? and age range?

Answer 6

• scale 0-5 using faces to describe
• age range: 3-6

Question 7

When can children use the numeric pain scale?

Answer 7

• usually over 6-7 years old
• when they can understand numeric terms

Question 8

How can you use language to help them cope with pain experience?

Answer 8

• Tell them they were brave
• Highlight 1-2 their adaptive coping techniques that they used or were cued to use (“You did a great job of deep breathing”)

-Correct or challenge their negative exaggerations of a memory in a more accurate & positive way

• Coach caregivers on memory reframing