German Children's Pain Center
| German Children's Pain Center | |
|---|---|
| Sponsorship | Vestische Caritas-Kliniken GmbH |
| place | Dates |
| state | North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Country | Germany |
| management | Boris Zernikow |
| Affiliation | Vestische Kinder- und Jugendklinik Datteln, University of Witten / Herdecke |
| founding | January 16, 2012 |
| Website | www.deutsches-kinderschmerzzentrum.de |
The German Children 's Pain Center at the Vestische Children's and Youth Clinic Datteln , University of Witten / Herdecke is a tertiary care facility for the treatment of children and adolescents with chronic pain.
History and Development
In Germany there are currently more than 350,000 children with severely debilitating chronic pain. Despite the urgency of the problem of chronic pain in children and adolescents, there was no interdisciplinary children's pain clinic in Germany until 2002. In 2002 Boris Zernikow and his team founded the Vodafone Foundation Institute for Pediatric Pain Therapy and Pediatric Palliative Medicine (VIKP) at the Vestische Kinder- und Jugendklinik Datteln against the background of insufficient care for children with chronic pain . The establishment and expansion of the institute was made possible by the extensive financial support of the Vodafone Foundation Germany over many years. The institute developed into an important contact point for children and adolescents with severely impaired pain and, over time, established itself as the German center for the care of children with chronic pain. In recognition of the many years of successful work, the children's pain clinic received the "Selected Location 2011" award. The German Children's Pain Center was then founded in January 2012.
Structure & structure
The German Children's Pain Center is a reference center for the care of children and adolescents with chronic pain. It builds on extensive experience in the treatment of children and adolescents with chronic pain. This is where therapy, research and work are carried out to make the situation of children and adolescents with chronic pain public and to improve it. The aim is to provide those affected, relatives and experts with comprehensive information and to optimize care - locally, regionally and nationwide. The pain clinic and the pain ward are the medical-psychological departments of the German Children's Pain Center. In addition, the advanced and advanced training department offers courses and seminars for further professional qualifications for different professional groups. Employees of the Chair for Pediatric Pain Therapy and Pediatric Palliative Medicine at the University of Witten / Herdecke work on research questions on the causes, diagnosis, prevention and therapy of chronic pain in children and adolescents.
Multimodal therapy concept
The German Children's Pain Center offers children and adolescents with chronic pain multidisciplinary care based on the latest medical and psychological findings.
Pain clinic
Every year around 1200 children and adolescents present themselves in the pain clinic. During the initial consultation with the family, a pediatrician and a psychologist get an overview of the diagnostic and therapeutic measures that have been carried out to date and clarify which questions the patient and his parents come up with. It will be decided jointly whether further therapy will be carried out on an outpatient or inpatient basis.
Possible components of outpatient treatment include pain psychological advice, if necessary suitable pain medication, TENS ( transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation ), biofeedback and participation in a headache or abdominal pain group.
Outpatient therapy is usually sufficient; follow-up appointments take place every 3–6 months.
Pain station
About 30% of all children who come to the pain clinic are admitted to the psychosomatic pain ward "Lighthouse" for inpatient pain therapy. The inpatient multimodal pain therapy concept is aimed at children and adolescents with severe pain-related impairments, e.g. B. if there are many days off school and severe constant pain. The pain station is aimed at children and adolescents between the ages of 7 and 18. The multi-professional team consists of the following professional groups:
- Specialist in pediatric and adolescent medicine
- Specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry
- Licensed child and adolescent psychotherapists
- Pediatric nurses
- educator
- Motopedist
- Art and music therapist
- Physiotherapist
- Social worker
The multimodal inpatient therapy usually lasts three weeks, in rare cases up to five weeks. The therapy time per day is approx. 5–8 hours; Visits take place daily, three to four individual psychological appointments a week with child and adolescent psychotherapists, two group psychotherapeutic appointments and a family discussion (with a doctor, psychologist and pediatric nurse). In everyday inpatient care, the nursing and educational services v. a. the following behavioral interventions are used:
- Comprehensive education on the bio-psycho-social background of chronic pain
- Development of age-appropriate and favorable behavior in dealing with chronic pain (e.g. going to school despite existing pain)
- Instruction to increase the patient's independence in dealing with pain
- Learning pain management strategies
- Learning of strategies for emotional relief for child and parents
- Implementation of step-by-step plans to learn to cope with normal everyday life again step by step
- Guidance and support for parents in the context of observations and family discussions
During school hours, patients attend the clinic school; Stress tests in the home environment with a visit to the home school for 1–3 days are also part of the inpatient therapy.
Continuing education and training
Since 2003, the German Children's Pain Center at the Vestische Children's and Youth Clinic has offered advanced training for various professional groups (doctors, pediatric nurses, psychologists) in the areas of pain therapy for children and adolescents and pediatric palliative care. Every two years, the advanced training department organizes the Datteln Children's Pain Days . This congress offers professionals, volunteers and interested parties a platform to better understand pain in children, to evaluate it correctly and to treat it efficiently and with low risk. In addition, the four-weekly interdisciplinary pain conferences with case presentations, information about diagnostic procedures and pain therapy strategies offer a platform for an interdisciplinary exchange.
Research & Teaching
In 2008 the Vodafone endowed chair for pediatric pain therapy and pediatric palliative medicine was established at the University of Witten / Herdecke . In the field of pediatric pain therapy, the chair is dedicated to the following main research areas:
- Diagnosis of chronic pain in children
- Therapy studies on multimodal pain therapy and drug pain therapy
- Neuroscientific fundamentals of chronic pain in children
In pediatric palliative care, the focus is on the following research areas:
- Sleep disorders, daytime restlessness and pain in children with life-threatening and life-limiting diseases
- Recording of symptoms and quality of life in the end of life of children and adolescents with oncological diseases
- Voluntary work in palliative care
- Evaluation of inpatient palliative medicine
In addition to various courses and events, students have the opportunity to write their doctoral thesis at the Chair of Pediatric Pain Therapy and Pediatric Palliative Medicine.
literature
- B. Zernikow (Ed.): Pain therapy for children, adolescents and young adults. 5th, completely revised and expanded edition. Springer, 2015, ISBN 978-3-540-74064-3 .
- M. Dobe, B. Zernikow: Red card for the pain. 3. Edition. Carl Auer Verlag, Heidelberg 2014, ISBN 978-3-89670-688-1 .
- M. Dobe, U. Damschen, B. Reiffer-Wiesel, C. Sauer, B. Zernikow: Three-week inpatient multimodal pain therapy in children and adolescents with chronic pain: First results in long-term effects. In: The pain. 20, 2006, pp. 51-60.
Individual evidence
- ^ Vodafone Foundation Germany. Programs: Pediatric Pain Therapy . Vodafone Foundation website. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
- ↑ Germany - Land of Ideas - Children's Pain Clinic receives the “Selected Location 2011” award. ( Memento of September 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Press release. January 16, 2012, Retrieved September 13, 2012.
- ↑ Children's Commission welcomes the establishment of the German Children's Pain Center. ( Memento of January 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Press release of the German Bundestag, January 13, 2012. Accessed on September 20, 2012.
- ↑ German Children's Pain Center. Pediatric pain therapy . Website of the German Children's Pain Center. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
- ↑ German Children's Pain Center. Continuing education and training . Website of the German Children's Pain Center. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
- ↑ a b Chair for Pediatric Pain Therapy and Pediatric Palliative Medicine . Private University of Witten / Herdecke gGmbH. Retrieved February 19, 2019.