Section Updates

Update from the Society for Pediatric Pain Medicine

By Deepa Kattail, MD, MHS, FAAP
Chair, SPPM Communications Committee

Dr. Kattail

This year of 2020 has been a year of challenges for all aspects of clinical medicine. The Society for Pediatric Pain Medicine reflects clinicians who treat acute pain, chronic pain, and provide regional anesthesia to our pediatric population. When the pandemic caused widespread closure of medical services, those of us who treat pediatric chronic pain were forced to incorporate technology and progressive thinking to ensure that this vulnerable population was not forgotten.

Given that pediatric patients with chronic pain have a higher incidence of comorbid mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression, these children and youth are particularly vulnerable to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the pandemic has had a significant toll on mental health for all.  Our society provided support for clinicians who had to rapidly transition our pediatric chronic pain completely to virtual platforms and modify the way in which we deliver care. A summary of resources is currently posted on our website here: https://www.pedspainmedicine.org/covid-resources/.

As the society has continued to grow and expand, we were proud to launch a newly designed website incorporating more dynamic content such as integration of live feeds from social media and a frequently updated “latest news” section. For the benefit of our members, we have continued to provide a “Question of the Month” with a rotation of questions hitting on acute pain, chronic pain, and interventional/regional anesthesia. 

Another aspect of our society that has thrived under the leadership of president, Dr. Rita Agarwal, is advocacy for pediatric pain in the media. This has included topics such as the non-medical use of anesthetics/analgesics leading to the death of a child and the FDA re-considering the black box warning on codeine in pediatric patients. As a premier organization presenting medical professionals in pain management, we are proud to lend our voice to important topics impacting society.

Lastly, SPPM has changed gears and is working hard behind the scenes preparing for our inaugural virtual Annual Meeting led by our program chair, Dr. Marisa Wiktor. Although, we are disappointed not to be able to meet in San Diego, our agenda is packed with well-known speakers, and we are hopeful that the meeting with be well attended by a multidisciplinary audience with a passion for managing pediatric pain.
In closing, 2020 has been an extremely challenging time in history for all of us. Yet, we have adapted to this new world as we hope for 2021 to be a new day!

SPPM is proud to be active and supportive of our membership as we continue providing “Better Care for Children in Pain”.