Characterization of acute pain in hospitalized children in Bogota. Cross-sectional multicenter study

Introduction: Pain in the pediatric population is still underdiagnosed and inadequately managed. Children often receive less intensive analgesic treatment than adults, with negative effects for their wellbeing. Objective: To characterize acute pain in pediatric patients hospitalized in three high-complexity institutions in Bogotá. Methods: Cross-sectional study which included patients aged 8 to 17 years admitted to the hospital for more than 72 hours. Collected data included pain intensity at the time of admission, etiology, type of pain and management during the hospital stay. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Overall, 361 patients with a mean age of 13 years were included. Median pain intensity was 6; 63.2% of the patients were females. There was a prevalence of surgical abdominal pain (19.1%), followed by non-surgical abdominal pain (16.1%). Pain characteristics were unknown in 62.6% of cases. The most frequently prescribed medication was metamizole (76.7%), followed by paracetamol (68.1%) and opioids (23%). Conclusions: Hospitalized children experience moderate-to-intense acute pain, predominantly associated with surgical and non-surgical abdominal conditions. Metamizole and paracetamol were found to be used frequently, with limited opioid prescription. It is important to improve pain documentation and management in this population, and also to standardize clinical practice around comprehensive multimodal management.