• Ludmyla Kachko, Shiri Ben Ami, Alon Lieberman, Rita Shor, Elena Tzeitlin, and Rachel Efrat.
• Chronic Pain Clinic, Pain Treatment Service, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel (SCMCI), Petah Tiqwa, Israel; Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Department of Anesthesia, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel (SCMCI), Petah Tiqwa, Israel.
• Paediatr Anaesth. 2014 Jun 1; 24 (6): 608-13.

Background And ObjectivesChronic pain in children and adolescents is common, but proportion of neuropathic pain (NP), a heterogeneous group of diseases with major impact on health-related quality of life, significant economic burden, and limited treatment options, is unclear. Many studies have focused only on complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Our aim was to examine the incidence, clinical features, management, and outcome of non-CRPS NP in patients referred to a chronic pediatric pain clinic (CPPC) at a tertiary-care hospital.MethodsRetrospective analyses of the patient's files with non-CRPS NP from 2008 until 2012.ResultsTwenty patients (9.9-22.0 years; 10.7% of new referrals) were treated with non-CRPS NP (postoperative 8/20, trauma-related 5/20, disease-related 7/20). The number of consultations performed and the number of medications used before CPPC were significantly higher than in CPPC (Z = 0.75, P = 0.005; Z = 1.68, P = 0.003; respectively, Wilcoxon test). The number of diagnostic procedures was not statistically significant. Invasive treatments were used in 50% of patients. Full/partial recovery was accomplished in 95%. anova with repeated measures yielded a highly significant difference between the initial and final visual analog scale (VAS) scores (8.2 ± 1.3; 1.19 ± 2.01, respectively; P < 0.001), and no effect of age, gender, time needed for referral to CPPC, and patient's categories on the change in VAS.ConclusionsBetter understanding of the medical profile of pediatric patients with non-CRPS NP is crucial to timely and correct diagnosis and effective management, but even children with delayed diagnosis still have a good outcome. The management of this condition by an experienced team is recommended.© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

25 keywords...

hide…