Training of medical staff positively influences postoperative pain management at home in children

The aim of this study was to describe how parents manage their child's post operative pain at home following day-case surgery. The incidence of pain, d ifferent analgesics used and problems related to administering medications were the main interests of the study. A postal questionnaire was sent to th e parents of 275 children who were under 8 years of age and had undergone a n ear, nose and throat (ENT) day-case operation. The questionnaire was sent to the parents a week after discharge from hospital. Altogether, the paren ts of 227 children answered the questionnaire (response rate 83%). The stud y was divided into two phases (preintervention and postintervention), and i ncorporated a training program for doctors and nurses between these two pha ses. The training program aimed to improve the treatment practices of posto perative pain in children. Seventy-eight per cent of the children in the pr eintervention study and 75% in the postintervention study experienced at le ast mild pain after discharge. The training program for doctors and nurses affected the home treatment practices of postoperative pain. The proportion of parents treating their children increased from 68% to 80% after the tra ining program (p=0.028). Many parents faced problems while treating their c hildren; for example, 19% (n=30) of the children refused to take their medi cine, and suppositories were regarded to be an especially unpleasant dosage form. However, no serious adverse effects were reported. We conclude that due to the pain experienced at home by the great majority of children follo wing day-case ENT operations, parents need information on how to manage the ir child's pain. A training program for doctors and nurses can improve the treatment of children's pain even at home. Since some children dislike supp ositories, it would be worth considering the use of small tablets or mixtur es instead.