Page 89 Guide to Pain Management in Low-Resource Settings

Pain History and Pain Assessment 77

Appendix 1

When using the body diagram (in children a broad
equivalent is the Eland Colour Scale), patients are re-
quested to indicate, using a marker, the location of their
pain (which could include several sites) by shading the
relevant areas. Th e severity of pain experienced can
then be determined using one of the adult pain assess-
ment tools (Appendix 2).

Fig. 10. Body diagram.

Appendix 2: Pain intensity scales

Children’s pain intensity scales

Scale Advantages Disadvantages
(i) Faces, Legs, Activity, Cry and Con- Th is tool is useful among children who It has not been validated among chil-
solability Scale are unable or unwilling to report pain; dren with special needs, neonates, or
it is quick to use and easily reproduc- ventilated children.
ible.
(ii) Touch Visual Pain Scale Th is tool is useful among children who Additional research is required to vali-
are unable or unwilling to report pain; date the tool in diff erent populations
it is quick to use and easily reproduc- and settings.
ible.
(iii) Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Th is tool is simple and quick to ad- Th e tool is sometimes described as
Scale minister, is easy to score, requires no measuring mood instead of pain, and
reading or verbal skills, is unaff ected sad or crying faces are not culturally
by issues of gender or ethnicity, and universal.
provides three scales in one (i.e., facial
expressions, numbers, and words).
(iv) Pain Th ermometer Th e tool is simple and quick to use and While overcoming some of the limita-
is intuitively preferred by some patients tions of the VDS by providing an ac-
instead of attempting to express their companying illustration of pain intensi-
pain intensity numerically. ty, the tool may be problematic among
the cognitively or visually impaired.