Pain relief for children called into question

There is “no high-quality evidence” to understand how safe or efficient common drugs are when used to help children with chronic pain, according to a new study.

Researchers say the finding, published in the journal Pain, means that decisions to prescribe such drugs are not guided by sufficient, quality evidence.

The international team, led by Bath University, is calling for more investment to research which drugs can help children with chronic pain to increase confidence that they are receiving the best treatment.

They found a contrast between evidence available for drugs used to treat adults with chronic pain, compared with for children – one in five of whom report the condition.

In adults, 300,000 patients have been studied in hundreds of individual randomised trials but only 93 children have participated in six trials.

Professor Christopher Eccleston is the coordinating editor for the Cochrane Pain, Palliative and Supportive Care Review Group and director of the Centre for Pain Research at Bath University.

He said: “Overall, there is no high-quality evidence to help us understand the efficacy or safety of the common drugs used to help children with chronic pain.

“The lack of data means that we are uncertain about how to optimally manage pain. Doctors, children and their families all deserve better.”

He continued: “Healthcare policymakers need to grapple this issue if we are to break down the barriers that exist to producing sufficient evidence in paediatric chronic pain pharmacotherapy.”