Outcomes and research

Finding the best ways to control pain

At Children’s Minnesota, we focus on research and creative ways to make a difference in the child’s experience of pain. From improving the child’s experience of pain with “pokes” to improving pain management with painful conditions and surgery, we are always looking for the best approaches for pain control. We adopt cutting-edge technologies, ask children and parents for their ideas and review evidence based practice within the field of pain. Our research is completely kid and family-focused.

Children’s Minnesota is engaged in many types of research, including investigator-initiated studies (led by a Children’s clinician), as well as externally sponsored multi-center trials, observational studies and registries. Within the pain program we’re also involved in many types of research studies of pain medications, outcome studies for children with chronic pain and quality improvement projects to improve procedural pain.

Examples of these exciting research studies include:

• Education in Palliative and End-of-life Care Pediatrics (EPEC-Pediatrics) aims to improve access to, and quality of, comprehensive pediatric palliative care for children with advanced cancer and other life-threatening conditions. PI: Stefan Friedrichsdorf, MD
• Eliminating needle pain in children: A multisite program to reduce painful needle procedure experiences in the pediatric inpatient setting. This project is aimed at creating a high quality tool kit that can be applied to various clinical environments utilizing best practices techniques for needle pain management in the pediatric inpatient setting. PI: Stefan Friedrichsdorf, MD
• Measuring Health Utilization, Cost, and Burden of Illness in Caring for a Child with a Complex Chronic Condition at Home. The primary goal of this study is to measure cost and burden of illness for parents caring for a child with a complex chronic condition at home. PI: Andrea Postier, MPH
• A Comparison of Postoperative Tramadol/Gabapentin/Ibuprofen versus Tramadol/Placebo/Ibuprofen in Children Undergoing Tonsillectomy aims to determine the efficacy of adding Gabapentin to commonly prescribed post-operative pain management medication. PI: Stefan Friedrichsdorf, MD

Learn more about research at Children’s Minnesota and our research team.

Awards and recognition

• 2018 Albert Bandura Influencer Award from VitalSmarts for Children’s Comfort Promise
• 2017 Winner of Quality and Patient Safety Improvement Award for Children’s Comfort Promise
• 2016 ChildKind Certification, Children’s MN was the first children’s hospital to receive this prestigious award certification
• 2016 Elizabeth Narcessian Award for Outstanding Education Achievements in the field of Pain was awarded to Dr. Friedrichsdorf by the American Pain Society
  – This award recognizes outstanding contributions highlighting dedication, or innovation of education in the field of Pain.
• 2015 Leaders in Healthcare Awards, awarded to the Pediatric Pain, Palliative and Integrative Medicine Clinic at Children’s Minnesota
• The Checkup: Taking the pain out of Children’s shots featuring Dr. Friedrichsdorf
• Pain and Symptom Management for Children with Serious Illness: Challenges and Opportunities in the Context of the Opioid Epidemic. 
• Video: Strategies to prevent or decrease needle pain in children during vaccinations with Dr. Friedrichsdorf
• The Interdisciplinary Chronic Pain Clinic Team at Children’s Minnesota