Background
Pain, pain
Pain control has been universally recognized as a human right for years and correct pain assessment is now one of the standards for the accreditation of healthcare institutions [In 2016, with a one-day investigation, we analyzed the prevalence of pain, pain intensity, and pain therapy in the Department of Surgery (DS) and the Department of Onco-Hematology and Cell and Genetic Therapy (DO) of the largest pediatric hospital in Italy, Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù IRCCS, which joined the project “Towards a Hospital without pain” some years ago. Our study showed suboptimal pain management and also suggested the need to take further initiatives to improve pain management in the wards [To improve the knowledge gap highlighted in the previous study, refresher courses and even personalized audits have been carried out during these years. The purpose of this study is to evaluate if, after 5 years, there have been improvements in the management of pain.The primary objective of this study is to describe the prevalence of pain in children in ordinary and day hospitalization in the DS and the DO. Secondly, the study aims (1) to assess the proportion of patients with pain who are receiving painkilling treatment; (2) to describe the type of analgesic drugs used and the dosage administered; (3) to evaluate the adequacy of the analgesic therapies administered, with reference to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines (WHO Analgesic Scale); (4) to evaluate the Pain Management Index (PMI) [