Programs & Services

At Phoenix Children’s, pain medicine doctors and other specialists collaborate to keep kids comfortable and at ease as they find new ways to manage pain.

We offer coordinated care, ranging from advanced imaging and diagnosis, and inpatient services through treatment, rehabilitation and follow-up care. Pain medicine teams offer help and hope, including:

• Acute pain therapies – For severe pain ranging from temporary post-surgical wound healing to sharp, sudden-onset pain
• Chronic pain therapies – Ongoing pain that may have varied causes and symptoms related to disease, injury, treatments or undiagnosed causes
• Outpatient and inpatient services – Including multispecialty disease- or condition-specific clinics for challenging or complex conditions
• Patient resources and support – Ranging from consultations and referrals to support groups and educational materials

Acute Pain Therapies

Pediatric anesthesiologists who specialize in managing acute pain are involved in these or other services, tailored to your child’s needs:

• Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA)  
• Epidural pain control 
• Peripheral nerve block 
• Continuous infusions 
• Multimodal analgesia 
• Pain psychology 
• Complementary alternative strategies 

Learn more about acute pain therapies.

Chronic Pain Therapies

Pain caused by chronic conditions or diseases can affect a child’s quality of life and ability to function. Our teams talk with your child and family to understand and address changing needs as part of a plan that’s as unique as your child.

Outpatient Pain Medicine

• Chronic pain multidisciplinary clinic 
• Weekly Rehabilitation and Pain Program (WRAPP) Clinic
• Complementary and alternative medicine
• Outpatient pain psychology therapy
• Teen chronic pain group
• Adolescent addiction medicine and psychiatry 

Interventional Pain Medicine

Specialized services include image-guided, minimally invasive surgical procedures to diagnose and treat acute or chronic pain. Interventional pain medicine options include:

• Botox
• Headache blocks
• Intra-muscular injections
• Injections to intra-articular (joint) and bursa (fluid-filled sac by muscles and tendons)
• Peripheral nerve blocks
• Spinal procedures

Learn more about the chronic pain therapies listed above, and integrated, multispecialty outpatient clinics and services at Phoenix Children’s.

Inpatient Pain Medicine Services

Inpatient pain medicine care at Phoenix Children’s offers dedicated pain management services for hospitalized children. Pain medicine doctors, nurse practitioners and psychologists at Phoenix Children’s team up to treat infants, children and young adults.

Once consulted by the child’s primary care team, they’ll evaluate your child and customize a plan, including medications, interventions and pain psychology services. Our team sees children daily and are available 24/7 to respond quickly as needs change.

Inpatient Pain Psychology

Inpatient pain psychology services include bilingual evaluations, short-term psychological therapies and care, and follow-up care. They’re part of a multipronged treatment approach that helps hurting kids to regain a sense of control over their lives.

Experts treat:

• Acute pain after an injury
• Post-surgical pain
• Pain flares in kids with chronic pain conditions

Complex Chronic Pain Inpatient Rehabilitation

This intensive program follows a successful rehabilitative model for managing persistent pediatric pain. In some instances, doctors don’t know its source, or the pain lasts longer than normal.

The multispecialty team includes:

• Child life specialists
• Doctors
• Nurse practitioners
• Physical and occupational therapists
• Psychologists
• Teachers
• Other specialists

Specialists hold an exit care conference for parents or guardians, which may include social workers, nutritionists, speech therapists or other experts. The team reviews progress, answers questions and shares follow-up plans.

After discharge, children return to school activities, an exercise program, and follow-up care. Most have ongoing clinic visits with a doctor, nurse practitioner, psychologist, physical therapist, occupational therapist or others.

Inpatient Physical Therapy

Our physical therapist helps your child and family to improve function, diminish pain and get back to school, social and recreational activities. Children gain strength, coordination, mobility, flexibility and endurance to fully participate in daily life. A home exercise program helps prevent returning complex pain. We help each child to stay as independent as possible.

Inpatient Interventional Pain Medicine

Phoenix Children’s offers minimally invasive surgical procedures to diagnose and treat acute or chronic pain. Highly skilled interventional medicine doctors use safe, sophisticated imaging technology that guides evaluation and care. Outpatient services are also available. Therapies may include:

• Botox
• Headache blocks
• Intra-muscular injections
• Injections to intra-articular (joint) and bursa (fluid-filled sacs)
• Peripheral nerve blocks
• Spinal procedures