Post-operative Paediatric Pain Assessment and Management at a Tertiary Health Facility, Southern Nigeria: Surgeons’ Perspectives and Practice

Introduction: Whereas advances in perioperative care of children continue to be made with increasing evidence-based practice for postoperative analgesia, inadequate relief of postoperative pain resulting in significant morbidity and mortality is still being reported.

Objective: To appraise surgeons' perspectives and practice of paediatric post-operative pain assessment and management at a tertiary health facility in southern Nigeria.

Methods: In this cross-sectional survey carried out between September and December 2019, a semi-structured and self-administered questionnaire was distributed to surgeons/trainees in departments/units where paediatric patients undergo both major and minor surgeries. Their perspectives and practice of postoperative pain assessment and management were analysed using SPSS version 20.0.

Results: Seventy-nine respondents completed the survey, including 19(24%) consultants, 32(40.5%) senior registrars, and 22(27.9%) junior registrars. Two-third of respondents (n=51, 64.6%) had more than 10 years working experience post-graduation. Involving parents/caregivers to assess postoperative pain was the most common strategy used by respondents (n=69, 87.3%), and most of them (n=67, 84.8%) do not make use of any pain assessment tools.

Non-pharmacologic strategies for postoperative pain management were applied/prescribed sometimes (n=20, 25%) or rarely (n=20, 25%). Paracetamol and NSAIDs were the commonest non-opioid analgesics used while pentazocine was the commonly used opioid. Many respondents (n=66, 83.5%) had never prescribed morphine for postoperative analgesia in children. Seventeen percent of respondents do not prescribe postoperative analgesia to newborns.

Conclusion: Findings of this study show that the practice in our institution falls short of the recommended multimodal approach to paediatric postoperative pain care. Development of standard protocols and training of providers of postoperative care are recommended.