title: Enhancing pain management in the PICU by teaching guided mental imagery: a quality-improvement project.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This quality-improvement study, following the PDCA methodology, compared the effectiveness of teaching mental imagery (MI) for pain management versus conducting a detailed inquiry (DI) about pain-related experiences with acutely injured PICU patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants included 44 hospitalized children and adolescents assigned to one of two intervention groups, MI (N = 24) or DI (N = 20). Pain was assessed pre- and post-intervention using the Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale and a 0-10 Likert pain rating scale, and the Pediatric Trauma Score was utilized to assess the severity of each child's injuries.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Boys in the MI condition exhibited a significant decrease in average pain ratings [t(38) = 3.41, p = .0015]. Girls in the MI condition exhibited a non-significant decrease in average pain ratings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Teaching children the use of MI for pain management in an intensive-care setting was supported; the use of DI with boys was not supported.
authors.affiliation: Division of Child Psychiatry, North Shore-LIJ Health System, USA. billkline9@aol.com
authors.forename: William H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Kline
authors.forename: Ayme
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Turnbull
authors.forename: Victor E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Labruna
authors.forename: Laurie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Haufler
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: DeVivio
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ciminera
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019018:Imagery, Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology; D059408:Pain Management; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000523:psychology; D012648:Self Care; D012737:Sex Factors; D017749:Total Quality Management; D016896:Treatment Outcome