Assessment and characterization of pain in children: the use of quality indicators/Avaliacao e caracterizacao da dor na crianca: utilizacao de indicadores de Qualidade/Evaluacion y caracterizacion del dolor del nino: uso de indicadores de calidad

Pain, if untreated, can cause harm and limitations in children. Therefore, health services must make a priority of identifying and relieving such pain. This study used quality indicators for children's pain management in order to profile a pediatric unit in terms of the prevalence, intensity, treatment and relief of pain, and assessed the children's condition on hospital discharge. It was an retrospective, quantitative evaluation study, conducted by analyzing medical records of 385 children hospitalized at the Pediatric Unit of the University Hospital of Londrina, Parana, in 2011. The prevalence of pain in these patients was 58.7% (n = 226), of whom 31.7% felt mild pain, 9.2% moderate pain, and 7.7% severe pain. However, in 51.4%, pain intensity was not quantified. The most common treatment was pharmacological (90.1%), and produced pain relief in 62.0% of cases. In conclusion, the identification, assessment and management of pain in children needs to be more efficacious.