The Society for Pediatric Pain Medicine (SPPM) aims to advance the quality of anesthesia care and the alleviation of pain-related conditions in children.
September is Pain Awareness Month, a time to raise public awareness of issues in the area of pain and pain management for children and adolescents. Our president, Dr. Yuan-Chi Lin, shares a message for Pain Awareness as pain continues to be an issue that impacts the pediatric population.
Congratulations to SPPM Executive Member, Dr. Vidya Chidambaran for her just released study in Brain, Behavior and Immunity examining the impact of cytokines in the postsurgical development of pain after major musculoskeletal pain. Exciting to see research in this area, as prevention of chronic pain is a global priority in the pain community.
Read the pre-print here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0889159124005877
Boston Children’s Hospital is hosting a Pediatric Pain Management course designed for physicians, nurses, psychologists, physical therapists and other clinical staff who care for children with pain conditions. The conference will be focused on the delivery of up to date pain management for children. The aim will be to integrate basic, translational and clinical science with clinical practice updates. Conference sessions will include a combination of lectures, discussions, poster sessions, and more.
More info here: https://bostonchildrens.cloud-cme.com/course/courseoverview?P=1&EID=4454
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
SPPM 13th Annual Meeting
March 12, 2026
Sheraton Denver Downtown
Denver, CO