Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39449156›Full record

ArticleJournal of hospital medicine2025

Variability in treatment of postoperative pain in children with severe neurologic impairment.

Jordan Keys, Jessica L Markham, Matthew Hall, Emily J Goodwin, Jennifer Linebarger, Jessica L Bettenhausen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of hospital medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Jordan KeysDepartment of Pediatrics, Children's Mercy Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0004-5972-8503
Jessica L MarkhamDepartment of Pediatrics, Children's Mercy Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1616-7721
Matthew HallDepartment of Pediatrics, Children's Mercy Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7778-5887
Emily J GoodwinDepartment of Pediatrics, Children's Mercy Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2980-1165
Jennifer LinebargerDepartment of Pediatrics, Children's Mercy Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri, USA.
Jessica L BettenhausenDepartment of Pediatrics, Children's Mercy Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri, USA.

Funding

Standardizing Antibiotic Prescribing for Children Hospitalized with Infections using Novel Metrics and Electronic Clinical Decision Support ToolsK08HS028845 · AHRQ · CHILDREN'S MERCY HOSP (KANSAS CITY, MO) · PI Jessica Lynn Markham · 2022 to 2026
$742k
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) K08HS028845AHRQ HHS K08 HS028845
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND

objectiveTreatment of postoperative pain for children with severe neurologic impairment (SNI) is challenging. We describe the type, number of classes, and duration of postoperative pain medications for procedures common among children with SNI, as well as the variability across children's hospitals in pain management with an emphasis on opioid prescribing.

methodsThis retrospective cohort study included children with SNI ages 0-21 years old who underwent common procedures between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019 within 49 children's hospitals in the Pediatric Health Information System. We defined SNI using previously described high-intensity neurologic impairment diagnosis codes and identified six common procedures which included fracture treatment, tracheostomy, spinal fusion, ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement (VP shunt), colostomy, or heart valve repair. Medication classes included benzodiazepines, opioids, and other nonopioid pain medications. Acetaminophen and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were excluded from analysis. All findings were summarized using bivariate statistics.

resultsA total of 7184 children with SNI underwent a procedure of interest. The median number of classes of pain medications administered varied by procedure (e.g., VP shunt: 0 (interquartile range [IQR] 0-1); tracheostomy: 3 (IQR 2-4)). Across all procedures, opioids and benzodiazepines were the most commonly prescribed pain medications (48.8% and 38.7%, respectively). We observed significant variability in the percentage of postoperative days with opioids across hospitals by procedure (all p < .001).

conclusionThere is substantial variability in the postoperative delivery of pain medications for children with SNI. A standardized approach may decrease the variability in postoperative pain control and enhance care for children with SNI.

Indexed as

Nervous System DiseasesPain ManagementPostoperative PainAdolescentAnalgesicsAnalgesics, OpioidBenzodiazepinesChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHospitals, PediatricHumansInfantInfant, NewbornMaleRetrospective StudiesAnalgesicsAnalgesics, OpioidBenzodiazepines

Identifiers

PMID39449156
PMCPMC12018581

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.