Construction of an Evidence Ecosystem-Based Postoperative Pain Management Programme for Paediatric Patients.

Abstract

Aim: To construct an evidence ecosystem-based postoperative pain management programme for children with postoperative pain management.

Design: A mixed research design that combines qualitative and quantitative studies.

Methods: According to the literature search and analysis, the postoperative pain management programme for children was constructed from three aspects: assessment of pain intensity of children, management principles and management methods, and the preliminary draft of the programme was finally constructed to include three first-level entries and 11 second-level entries. In January-February 2023, the first draft of the postoperative pain management programme for children was developed based on a literature review using the ecosystem of evidence theory as the research framework; in March-April 2023, the postoperative pain management programme for children was revised and finalised through two rounds of Delphi expert consultation.

Results: In the second round of expert consultation, the return rate of valid questionnaires was 100%, the expert authority coefficient was 0.83, the importance scores and feasibility scores of each entry were > 3.5, the coefficients of variation were < 0.25, the Kendall's harmony coefficients of the importance scores of the entries were 0.650 (χ² = 273.134, p < 0.001) and those of the feasibility scores were 0.649 (χ² = 272.720, p < 0.001). The resulting postoperative pain management programme for the affected patients included three level 1, 11 level 2 and eight level 3 entries.

Patient or public contribution: The postoperative pain management programme for children constructed based on the evidence ecosystem is practical and scientific, but its effectiveness in clinical practice needs to be further verified by a controlled study design.

Objectives: Evidence ecosystem; paediatrics, surgery; pain; Delphi method.