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The International Association for the Study of Pain

Integration of a Pediatric Occupational Therapist in a New Interdisciplinary Chronic Pain Clinic: A Preliminary Review -WD7

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Institution: Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt University Medical Center - Tennessee, United States of America

Interdisciplinary outpatient pediatric chronic pain teams usually include pain physicians, pain psychologists, and physical therapists.  Although occupational therapy is often part of the care plan or included in inpatient programs, occupational therapists may not be a part of the primary outpatient treatment team. At a newly formed interdisciplinary pediatric pain clinic at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, an occupational therapist was included as part of the primary treatment team. A retrospective review revealed that all patients had deficits that would benefit from being addressed by occupational therapy. By categorizing patients’ occupational therapy deficits using occupational therapy frames of reference, it was apparent that sensory integration was the most prevalent. In the population of pediatric chronic pain patients examined, there was not only a significant prevalence of known sensory processing issues (24%), but also a significant amount of previously unknown sensory processing difficulties that were identified by the occupational therapy evaluation, yielding a total of 54% of patients evaluated that had known or suspected sensory processing difficulties. Further research is warranted to explore the efficacy of occupational therapy interventions in pediatric chronic pain, as well as to explore the relationship between pediatric chronic pain and sensory processing difficulties. 

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Assistant Professor Alan Hoang MD - Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Tennessee, United States of America) , Physical Therapist Thomas Rains PT, DPT - Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Tennessee, United States of America) , Occupational Therapist Holly Heavner OT - Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Tennessee, United State of America) , Registered Nurse Hannah Reed RN - Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Tennessee, United States of America) , Assistant Professor Gloria Han PhD - Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Tennessee, United States of America) , Assistant Professor Amanda Stone PhD - Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Tennessee, United States of America)

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