Managing pain is the name of the game

Few things are more heartbreaking than seeing your child in pain. That’s why, at Children’s Minnesota, we have a program, and a philosophy, that’s dedicated to keeping kids as pain-free as possible, whether during a hospital stay, an emergency room visit or recurrent pain like headaches. The interdisciplinary pain program is one of the largest of its kind in the U.S., combining drug and integrative (non-drug therapies), to ease pain in babies, children and teens.

We’re a Center of Excellence in Pediatric Pain Management, a designation few pain management programs have earned. In 2013, the American Pain Society recognized our state-of-the-art, patient-centered pain management program for demonstrating a multidisciplinary approach that not only treats children’s pain, but the whole patient, in order to improve function and overall quality of life.

We see patients in both of our hospitals and in our Kiran Stordalen and Horst Rechelbacher Pediatric Pain, Palliative and Integrative Medicine Clinic.

Reducing your child's pain

We are committed to helping reduce your child’s pain

Very few hospitals share a commitment to pediatric pain management quite like we do. At Children’s Minnesota, we know that when pain is controlled, kids heal faster and do better. By removing pain from the equation, as much as possible, kids see that medical care is here to help them, not hurt them. They’re less fearful. Most important of all, they’re happier, making the entire family happier.

We provide targeted, age-appropriate pain relief for infants and children in all areas of medical care and for different reasons. They fall into these three main categories:

Acute pain. This is often caused by tissue injury. We help manage pain in children with acute medical issues such as ear aches, injury, pain after surgery, cancer pain and more. Your child’s acute pain may be treated in the clinic, emergency room or hospital.
Chronic and complex pain. This pain often remains after the expected time of healing. Whether your child has recurrent headaches, abdominal pain, muscle or joint pain, or another issue that causes ongoing discomfort, we’re here to help. Most of these children are treated at the interdisciplinary pain clinic.
Procedural pain. Needles and procedures don’t have to hurt. We offer techniques to minimize procedural pain that may be caused by vaccinations, needle pokes, lumbar punctures, suturing and more. Our goal is to prevent pain associated with procedures in the lab, clinic, emergency department, hospital or wherever your child is seen.

Care that meets your needs

Medicine isn’t the only answer

We have numerous methods of preventing and controlling pain that are often safer and more effective than medicines alone. Every child’s pain control method is designed to meet his or her needs. Examples of methods we use include:

Sucrose solution or pacifiers for infants
Numbing cream for needle pokes
Comfort positioning
Presence of parents
Healing touch after surgery
Distraction and play

We won’t give up trying to find the right methods for your child until we find what works the best at preventing and controlling your child’s pain. And once your child rests easier, so will you.