Pediatric Pain Rehabilitation Program

Alexis, a CRPS Patient, Finds Hope at Kennedy Krieger's Pediatric Pain Rehabilitation Program

The Pediatric Pain Rehabilitation Program at Kennedy Krieger Institute offers a continuum of services for the evaluation and non-narcotic treatment of chronic pain and functional disability in children and adolescents.

Our services include:

• Interdisciplinary team evaluation
• Outpatient therapies (physical, occupational, aquatic and cognitive behavioral therapies)
• Intensive day treatment
• Intensive inpatient rehabilitation
• Interventional pain procedures performed under sedation

Our goal is to manage and reduce a child’s pain while promoting healthy daily functioning at home, school and in the community. This program is a cooperative between Kennedy Krieger Institute and the Johns Hopkins Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine.

We treat patients with chronic pain who have a variety of medical diagnoses, pain locations and symptoms, including:

• Chronic pain as a result of surgery or injury
• Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)
• Pain-associated disability syndrome (PADS)
• Amplified musculoskeletal pain syndrome (AMPS)
• Physical deconditioning
• Hypermobility/Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS)
• Chronic abdominal pain
• Chronic headaches/migraines
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS)
• Chronic pain due to sickle cell disease

About Your Visit

Most patients who are referred to the Pediatric Pain Rehabilitation Program are seen for a visit in our outpatient Pain Rehabilitation Clinic and have an initial evaluation by an experienced, interdisciplinary team that includes a pain medicine specialist, a physical therapist, a cognitive-behavioral therapist, a pain clinic nurse and a clinic coordinator. The team then develops a treatment plan that targets the patient’s individual needs and specifies the most appropriate care setting, which could include outpatient, day hospital or inpatient care settings (Settings of Care). Some patients may be referred for additional evaluation by specialists in Neurology, Genetics, Gastroenterology, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, or Psychiatry.

Additional Resources:

• Article: Beyond the Pain
• Article: Practicing Painless Pain Medicine
• Video: Understanding Pain and What to Do About it in Less Than 5 Minutes
• Book: Conquering Your Child’s Chronic Pain: A Pediatrician's Guide for Reclaiming a Normal Childhood by Lonnie K. Zeltzer M.D., Christina Blackett Schlank

Related Materials and Information:

• Guide for Working with Students with Chronic Pain (PDF)
• Pediatric Pain Rehabilitation Program Factsheet (PDF)