Pediatric Pain, Palliative & Integrative Medicine Center

The Pediatric Pain, Palliative & Integrative Medicine Center is dedicated to relieving pain and improving quality of life for our youngest hospitalized patients, and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our team includes pediatric hospitalists (specialists in managing the care of hospitalized patients), pediatric anesthesiologists, pediatric palliative care specialists, a nurse practitioner, a psychologist and nurses.

To provide the right care for each patient, the service is staffed by two teams. The acute and chronic pain team focuses on comprehensive pain management, while the palliative care team provides an extra layer of support for children and families facing serious illness. When a patient is ready for discharge, we work collaboratively with providers from all relevant specialties to bridge the transition home.

Acute and chronic pain team

We embrace innovative and integrative approaches to relieving and managing pain. Our services include:

• Treatments for acute pain, or short-lived pain related to illness or injury
• Treatments for chronic pain
• Specialized treatment for amplified pain, an abnormal neurological response that causes pain to be felt with unusual intensity
• Sedation for medical procedures
• Regional anesthesia (numbing the area of the body being treated), such as an epidural injection
• Complementary and integrative therapies:
  • Acupressure and acupuncture
  • Aromatherapy
  • Biofeedback
  • Massage therapy
  • Music therapy
  • Relaxation training
  • Short-term cognitive behavioral therapy
  • Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)

Palliative care team

For children with serious illnesses, our team – which includes specialists from several fields – focuses on relieving symptoms and stress, fostering wellness and offering comfort. The overarching goal is to improve quality of life for both the child and their family by partnering and collaborating with everyone affected and by ensuring that care meets individual needs and values. Palliative care is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness, and can be provided together with curative or life-prolonging treatment.

Our services include:

• Management of symptoms, such as pain, nausea, constipation, shortness of breath and anxiety
• Discussions to clarify individual goals of care
• Help understanding medical conditions
• Decision-making support
• Advance care planning
• Support for emotional, psychological and spiritual issues in developmentally appropriate ways
• Care coordination for complex and chronic conditions
• Support and counseling for grief and loss
• Complementary and integrative therapies, such as massage, music therapy and art therapy
• Coordination with hospice agencies
• Coordination with home-based palliative care programs