Pain assessment in venepuncture among children: Experience from a single centre study in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Introduction: Venepuncture is the commonest and feared painful experience in hospitalized children. Objectives:To assess the venepuncture pain (VP) status and associated factors among children admitted to paediatric units in Teaching Hospital Karapitiya (THK). Method:A cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 children aged 2 months to 8 years, who underwent venepuncture in above setting in 2021. Data were collected by direct observation of the procedure and by administering a questionnaire to primary caregivers. Pain scores were documented using the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry and Consolability (FLACC) pain scoring system on an ordinal scale (0-10). The median pain scores among groups were compared using Mann Whitney U test. The level of significance was considered as 0.05. Results:Of the observed 300 venepunctures, 71 (23.6%) were blood samples and 229 (76.3%) were intravenous cannulations. The median (IQR) VP score was 6 (2). There was zero practice of assessment and documentation of VP using a pain scale. The practice of multimodal pain management (MPM) was observed only in 9 (3%), while 24 (8%) children did not receive any VP management. Two hundred and sixty (86.7%) parents were not satisfied with existing pain management, while 239 (79.7%

Avifaunal Diversity and Abundance in the Proposed Sarasalai Mangrove Reserve, Jaffna, Sri Lanka

“…The Indian subcontinent maybe rich in waterbirds because it lies at an endpoint of the Central Asian flyway (CAF) [40]. The CAF extends from northern Russia and Central Siberia through the Himalayas to the Indian subcontinent [41,42]. Some waders fly as far as 9,000 km from the arctic breeding grounds and to south India and Sri Lanka as their wintering ground, which is the southernmost end of the flyway [41,42].…”

“…The CAF extends from northern Russia and Central Siberia through the Himalayas to the Indian subcontinent [41,42]. Some waders fly as far as 9,000 km from the arctic breeding grounds and to south India and Sri Lanka as their wintering ground, which is the southernmost end of the flyway [41,42]. Most of the winter visitors to Sri Lanka reach the southern tip of India along the eastern coastline and cross the Indian Ocean through the Palk Strait and finally enter Sri Lanka [22].…”