Pain-associated disability syndrome (PADS) is characterized by at least two months of severe abdominal or chest pain that disrupts daily activities. The pain can occur in either persistent or recurrent episodes. While patients with PADS experience disruptions to their normal routines, the severity level of the pain is often not easy to detect in medical treatment. PADS is sometimes diagnosed after methods used to treat acute pain fail, and other conditions have been ruled out.
Children with PADS may see a complete interruption to their ability to complete everyday activities, including going to school, eating, and maintaining a regular sleep cycle. PADS can be linked to unrecognized functional gastrointestinal diseases, and is often connected to existing mental stressors. These can include family issues (like substance abuse or separation), social anxiety disorder, or an undiscovered learning disability.
Our Team
An experienced, interdisciplinary care team works with each patient and family to manage a child's pain by promoting healthy daily functioning and pain coping skills using an interdisciplinary rehabilitation model. Our team includes:
- Pediatric pain fellowship-trained physician
- Child psychiatrists
- Pediatricians
- Pediatric rehabilitation physicians
- Pediatric psychologists/cognitive behavioral therapists
- Physical therapists
- Neuropsychologists
- Occupational therapists
- Social workers
- Care coordinators
- Case managers
- Educators
- Child life specialists
- Nurses/nurse practitioners
- Therapeutic recreation specialists
Our Treatment Approach
We offer a multimodal approach to pain management that includes:
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (e.g. deep controlled diaphragmatic breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, interactive distraction, guided visual imagery, cognitive restructuring, biofeedback, mindfulness, meditation)
- Physical Therapy (functional, manual and visceral therapies, heat/cold)
- Occupational therapy (activities of daily living)
- Non-narcotic pain medications
- Interventional pain procedures under sedation
- Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation
- Other novel and emerging treatment modalities for pain management
As one of the few hospitals in the country to offer interventional pain services for children guided by imaging in an operating room, we offer the following procedures:
- Epidural steroid injections
- Facet joint injections
- Sacroiliac joint injections
- Piriformis injections
- Muscle and joint injections
- Occipital nerve blocks
- Abdominal blocks (e.g., transverse abdominis plane [TAP] and rectus sheath blocks)
- Intercostal nerve blocks
- Sternum injections
- Bursa injections
- Scar injections
- Peripheral nerve blocks
- Trigger point injections