Hannallah et al developed the Objective Pain Scale (OPS) to monitor pain in children after surgery. The authors are from the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC.
Patient selection: 8 months to 13 years
Data requirements: average of the 3 previous systolic blood pressures
Parameters:
(1) systolic blood pressure
(2) crying
(3) movement
(4) agitation (confused, excited)
(5) complains of pain (may not be possible in younger children)
|
Parameter |
Finding |
Points |
|
systolic blood pressure |
increase < 20% of preoperative blood pressure |
0 |
|
|
increase 20-30% of preoperative blood pressure |
1 |
|
|
increase > 30% of preoperative blood pressure |
2 |
|
crying |
not crying |
0 |
|
|
responds to age appropriate nurturing (tender loving care) |
1 |
|
|
does not respond to nurturing |
2 |
|
movements |
no movements, relaxed |
0 |
|
|
restless, moving about in bed constantly |
1 |
|
|
thrashing (moving wildly) |
2 |
|
|
rigid (stiff) |
2 |
|
agitation |
asleep or calm |
0 |
|
|
can be comforted to lessen the agitation (mild) |
1 |
|
|
cannot be comforted (hysterical) |
2 |
|
complains of pain |
asleep |
0 |
|
|
states no pain |
0 |
|
|
cannot localize |
1 |
|
|
localizes pain |
2 |
total score =
= SUM(points for all scorable parameters)
Interpretation:
• minimum score: 0
• maximum score: 10
• maximum score if too young to complain of pain: 8
• The higher the score, the greater the degree of pain.
Limitations:
• Systolic blood pressure could be affected by preoperative or postoperative hypotension.
Purpose: To evaluate a child for pain following surgery using the Objective Pain Scale (OPS).
Specialty: Pedatrics
Objective: criteria for diagnosis, severity, prognosis, stage, complication detection, disability and performance
ICD-10: R52, G89, R10, M54.9, N64.4, R07, M25.5, M79.6, M54.5, R10.2, M25.51, M54, R07.0,
