Go to Sitemap
Pain Management, Research and Education Centre
The Pain Management, Research and Education Centre (Pain Centre) is a leading international paediatric centre specializing in pain prevention and treatment. We aim to prevent and minimize pain for all children in a family-centered environment by fostering collaboration, excellence, integrity, and innovation between interprofessional teams that integrate clinical care, education, and research.
The SickKids Pain Centre is one of only two institutions in the country with certification from ChildKind, an international organization that recognizes health-care institutions that provide excellent pain care for children. The Centre is also Central Canada’s regional hub for the national mobilization network, Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP).
Pain Centre Organizational Chart (PDF)
The SickKids Pain Centre is co-directed by Dr. Fiona Campbell and Dr. Jennifer Stinson, and includes prominent scientists, clinician leaders, and partners from top national and international paediatric organizations. The Centre collaborates with top international research scientists to lead ground-breaking projects across the fields of clinical and basic science.
We host the internationally-recognized training program Pain in Child Health (PICH) and lead outstanding local and global initiatives in paediatric pain (hosting educational events, creating educational materials for healthcare professionals, kids, and families, and funding research competitions).
We ensure safe and effective pain practice for children by providing leadership for local and global paediatric pain initiatives. We’re continuously building on our culture of appropriate expectations for pain through pain management, research, and education initiatives.
We work with all types of health-care professionals, providing access to the most current evidence-based recommendations, resources and training opportunities.
Pediatric Pain Management Standard
Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP) and the Health Standards Organization (HSO) are pleased to announce Canada’s first national Pediatric Pain Management standard, establishing a set of guidelines for the delivery of pain management for children from birth to 19 years. The standard provides guidance to health care organizations on how to deliver equitable and quality pain management across hospital settings.
The SickKids Pain Centre is a regional hub for Solutions for Kids in Pain, a national knowledge mobilization network, whose mission is to improve children's pain management by mobilizing evidence-based solutions in Canadian health institutions.
PICH is an international, innovative cross disciplinary research training consortium with a community of scholars in pediatric pain.
Paediatric Project ECHO has four accredited curricula delivered by SickKids - paediatric pain management, complex care, obesity management, and palliative care. Each live ECHO session aims cultivate an all-teach, all-learn community of practice and includes a didactic presentation, Q&A and a case discussion. Find out more about what other ECHO participants have to say, annual reports and academic posters on the Paediatric Project ECHO Impact page.
Conquering the Hurt Conference (PDF)
The Conquering the Hurt Conference is hosted annually and targets health-care professionals/trainees, researchers, policy makers and patients and families and addresses key themes in EDI, mental health and COVID-19. The 2021 Conference will address emerging themes in artificial intelligence and virtual innovations.
Pain Centre membership for healthcare professionals
In partnership with patients, researchers, and front-line clinicians, the free SK Pain Centre membership includes prominent scientists and clinician leaders, and partners with impactful national and international paediatric organizations.
Clinical Practice Guidelines
- Application of Heat and Cold as a Pain Management Strategy
- Guidelines for Pain Assessment and Management for Neonates
- Monitoring Requirements for Patients Receiving Opioids
- Monitoring Requirements for Patients Receiving Regional Anaesthesia
- Pain Assessment
- Pain Management
- Prevention and Treatment of Opioid and Benzodiazepine Withdrawal
- Canadian Pediatric Society Position Statement: Managing pain and distress in children undergoing brief diagnostic and therapeutic procedures
Pain in Child Health (PICH) program
The PICH research training initiative at SickKids has transformed Canada into a world leader in paediatric pain research, bringing the international paediatric pain research community together across several collaborative efforts.
PICH has cultivated a tight-knit community of scientists and trainees dedicated to learning and informing changes in practice to minimize pain and suffering of children around the globe.
Research
The Pain Centre administers pain-focused grant competitions and directs outcome evaluation for Pain Centre-sponsored research initiatives.
Internal researchers
- Dr. Michael Salter
- Dr. Steven Prescott
- Dr. Jennifer Stinson
- Dr. Bonnie Stevens
- Dr. Benjamin Steinberg
- Dr. Lindsay Jibb
Associate scientists
Research Associates
- Dr. Chitra Lalloo
Project Investigators
- Dr. Fiona Campbell
- Dr. Naiyi Sun
- Dr. Danielle Ruskin
- Dr. Sacha Litwin
External researchers
Associated programs and services
The Pain Centre is associated with several SickKids programs and departments.
- Department of Anesthesia & Pain Medicine
- Nursing
- Department of Paediatrics
- Pharmacy Department
- Department of Psychology
- Department of Psychiatry
- Child Life and Rehabilitation Services
- Child Health Evaluative Sciences and Neuroscience & Mental Health Programs within the Research Institute
Clinical services for patients and families
Support services for patients and families
Sign up for a free Pain Centre membership
Both health-care professionals and patients & families can register for a free SickKids Pain Centre membership! Get access to resources, opportunities and events in pain management, education/knowledge mobilization and research.
Register online through the links below!
For health-care professionals For patients and families
And don't forget to sign up for our newsletter - get Pain Centre news and resources delivered to your inbox.
Online Paediatric Pain curriculum
The goal of the OPPC is to provide a broad education platform for health-care professionals to learn about pain with clinical, basic science and ethical themes. They can be viewed independently and interchangeably.
Features of the core curriculum include:
- Based on the International Association for the Study of Pain Core Curriculum for professional education in pain
- Available to anyone via the web, anywhere in the world
- Each module contains a number of cases illustrating the concepts covered in the module
Neurobiology of Pain
Differentiate between pain and nociception; understand the difference between adult and preterm neonate nociception and the long term consequences of painful events in early life.
Development of Children's Pain Perception
Understand changes in pain perception of children as they go through developmental stages as well as the social, cultural and biological influence in children's perception of pain.
Epidemiology & Taxonomy of Paediatric Pain
Learn the different classification systems of paediatric pain; grasp problems with epidemiological studies of paediatric pain and be able to discuss the prevalence of common paediatric pain conditions.
Assessment and Measurement of Paediatric Pain
Define assessment and measurement; describe the components of a thorough pain assessment; be able to choose an appropriate pain intensity scale to quantify pain.
Paediatric Pain: Pharmacological Therapies
Understand developmental differences in pharmacology; understand the pharmacology and side effects of commonly used analgesics and be able to chose appropriate pharmacological agents.
Treating Pain in Children: Non-Pharmacological Therapies
Make informed decisions for the use of non-pharmacological pain management and identify appropriate non-pharmacological interventions for acute and chronic pain.
Acute Pain: Special Considerations
Identify types of acute pain and describe the neurophysiology and adverse effects; understand the principles of acute pain and management and list risk factors and preventive measures for progression from acute to chronic pain.
Chronic Pain Management: Special Considerations
This course explores key concepts in chronic pain and pain assessment, the extent and potential consequences of chronic pain, and developing a chronic pain management plan using the '3 Ps' approach.
Management of Pain in Paediatric Palliative Care
Define paediatric palliative pain; identify types of pain and other key symptoms experienced at different stages of palliative care trajectory including end of life; understand key factors to minimize suffering at end of life.
Ethical Considerations for Children with Pain
Describe key ethical concepts that should be considered when caring for children; outline significant ethical concerns that can arise in the paediatric context and discuss how these ethical concerns should be managed.
Paediatric Pain in low-to-middle income Countries
This module looks at the prevalence, barriers to management and discusses current practices of paediatric pain in low-to-middle income countries (LMICs).
Pain in Children with Developmental Disabilities
Pain in Children with Developmental Disabilities
This course will describe 1) the nature and scope of pain in children with social, communication, intellectual and motor disabilities, 2) an approach to pain assessment for children with developmental disabilities (DD) and 3) an approach to ensuring successful ongoing pain management in children with DD.
