The Society for Pediatric Pain Medicine (SPPM) aims to advance the quality of anesthesia care and the alleviation of pain-related conditions in children.
Many studies have supported the use of virtual reality (VR) in the pediatric population, and a new RCT looked at the impact of VR to help manage venipuncture including port access in oncology patients. Results are promising, and although VR is well supported in the literature, widespread implementation is not yet seen in all healthcare settings.
Read the study here: https://bmcpediatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12887-024-04952-3
A recent publication from SickKids has published the prevalence of chronic pain in the congenital cardiac population after surgery. Based on surveys sent to patient who had undergone surgery, the prevalence of chronic post -surgical pain was found to be similar to the prevalence seen in all surgeries, approximately 20%. Data on chronic pain in this population is limited, thus this is an interesting finding and an area that can be explored for ways to prevent development of chronic pain.
Read the full letter here: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12630-024-02793-3
Dr. Katie Birnie and team have recently published a review to examine the efficacy of interventions that are delivered in-person versus virtually for youth with chronic pain, a shift that occurred during the pandemic and has persisted in some forms in many chronic pain programs.
Follow the link for the full review, that identified major gaps in our current literature: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/38863459/
A fascinating case report authored by several SPPM members – what is the next step for postdural puncture headache when blood patches are ineffective?
Read here to see what was offered to one particular patient:
https://www.cureus.com/articles/245081-postdural-puncture-headaches-in-pediatric-patients-a-review-of-options-when-repeated-epidural-blood-patches-do-not-work#!/
SPPM 13th Annual Meeting
March 12, 2026
Sheraton Denver Downtown
Denver, CO