%0 Journal Article %T Comparison of skin conductance measurements and subjective pain scores in children with minor injuries %J Acta paediatrica %D 2013 %A Strehle, Eugen-Matthias %A Gray, William K. %V 102 %N 11 %P e502-e506 %X AIMS: Objective measures of perceived pain may aid clinicians in decision-making regarding analgesia. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of an algesimeter to assess the pain response of children to minor injury when compared to self-report. METHODS: A commercially available skin conductance algesimeter was used to record pain in children due to a paediatric minor injury, a district general hospital. The recordings were compared to self-reported pain scores using the Wong-Baker FACES(®) Pain Rating Scale. RESULTS: Sixty-seven children below 16 years of age (36 females, 53.7%, mean age 11.9 years, standard deviation 3.1 years) were assessed. There was a significant correlation between self-reported pain and number of fluctuations in skin conductance per second for girls (r = 0.325, p = 0.027), but not for boys (r = 0.160, p = 0.194). There was no significant association between self-reported pain and number of fluctuation in skin conductance per second and patient age. CONCLUSIONS: There was a significant correlation between self-reported pain and the number of fluctuations in skin conductance in girls, but not boys. There may be a number of reasons for this gender variation, including difficulty in rating pain and lack of sensitivity in the pain rating scale. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Language: en

%G en %I John Wiley and Sons %@ 0803-5253 %U http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/apa.12382