Our Services

Inpatient Pain and Symptom Management Consultation

The inpatient team of the Pain Management Service consists of pain management physicians, an advanced practice nurse, a massage therapist and, when appropriate, a licensed child psychologist or psychiatrist.

The inpatient pain management team provides pain and symptom management 24/7 with expert consultation for hospitalized patients experiencing pain associated with a variety of illnesses or treatments including:

• Pain due to injury
• Pain following surgery
• Pain associated with illness or treatment for an illness (cancer, sickle cell anemia, etc.)
• Nausea, itching or other unpleasant symptoms or side effects of diseases and their treatments
• Anxiety and stress due to hospitalization
• Weaning management from long-term use of pain killers and sedatives
• Prescription of outpatient pain management programs

Outpatient Pain Management Clinic

The Pain Management Clinic also provides evaluation and treatment to children who are not hospitalized, but who are experiencing chronic or recurrent pain.

The initial clinic evaluation is conducted by a team that includes a physician, a nurse practitioner, a child psychologist and a physical therapist, with additional evaluation by our pain management child psychiatry consultant as appropriate. The clinic provides a full spectrum of nonpharmacologic methods, such as acupuncture, acupressure, biofeedback, relaxation training and medical hypnosis in addition to conventional medical management of pain and related symptoms including medication management and interventional pain procedures.

Examples of problems treated at the Outpatient Pain Management Clinic include:

• Chronic, daily, or recurrent headaches
• Chronic or recurrent abdominal pain
• Complex regional pain syndromes (also known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy) and other forms of neuropathic pain
• Fibromyalgia
• Myofascial pain
• Back pain
• Pain secondary to acute or chronic illness (arthritis, cancer, etc.)

Stanford Medicine Children’s Health Pain Rehabilitation Center

Children disabled by chronic or recurrent pain problems who have not demonstrated adequate functional improvement through inpatient or outpatient services may benefit from our pain rehabilitation program. Therapy is designed to address and treat both the medical and psychological issues associated with chronic pain conditions.

To determine eligibility for the Stanford Medicine Children’s Health Pain Rehabilitation Center, patients should be referred to the Outpatient Pain Management Clinic by their primary care physician, specialist or pain management physician.

Outpatient Rehabilitation Program

This program treats children with musculoskeletal pain disorders and other chronic pain problems such as erythromelalgia, fibromyalgia, chronic daily headaches and chronic abdominal pain if team evaluation indicates that the condition may improve through functional rehabilitation.

Each day, patients in the outpatient program receive several hours of intensive physical and occupational therapy, an hour or more of psychotherapy and family counseling, and two hours of educational assessments and instruction to restore and maintain the child’s academic standing.

• Medical management includes analgesic medication management, medical management of sleep, anxiety, and mood disorders and therapeutic drug monitoring. Diagnostic and therapeutic nerve blocks are utilized as needed to support the child through physical therapy, which may be painful.

The length of treatment is typically 4-8 weeks. Families from out of town are accommodated for a nominal fee in the Ronald McDonald House when space is available. Discounted rates can be arranged through the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford's family housing office for families preferring a nearby motel or hotel, or when the Ronald McDonald House is fully booked. Patients who are admitted to the program are assisted by our social work team to help with the logistical issues of extended stays.