The Comfy Kids Team

The Comfy Kids Team was established at the Women's and Children's Hospital in 2003.

The team is staffed by a Nurse Consultant (specialist nurse) on weekdays, a senior pharmacist in pain management twice a week and anaesthetic staff from the Department of Children's Anaesthesia.

Services provided

• Daily review of children and adolescents following major surgery or trauma by The Comfy Kids Team on weekdays and an anaesthetist on weekends
• Consultancy for children and adolescents who are inpatients and require assessment and management of complex acute pain
• Implementation of pain management and/or light sedation strategies (PDF – 474kb) for ongoing treatments, such as complex wound dressings
• Parent and staff education about pain management for children.
• Development of pain assessment and management procedures for children.

Common techniques used to manage acute pain include:

• Distraction therapy, including books, movies, music and video games
• Hypnotherapy
• Patient Controlled Analgesia  (PDF – 470kb)
• Analgesic/opioid infusion  (PDF – 464kb)
• Epidural analgesia  (PDF – 1.8mb)
• Nerve  (PDF – 146kb) and caudal blocks  (PDF – 138kb)
• Other pain relief medicines that are available in a variety of routes

Each of these techniques may have specific advantages or disadvantages for an individual patient. The anaesthetist and/or The Comfy Kids Team, in consultation with the patient and their family, will carefully review and assess each patient’s situation before deciding on an appropriate pain management plan.

How to access The Comfy Kids Team

WCH staff refer patients to the service.

Parents of children booked to have major surgery at the WCH may contact the Nurse Consultant (specialist nurse) for advice and information before admission.

Information for patients and their family

Children's Pain Assessment Reference page

Pain Management after Short Stay Surgery information brochure (PDF – 454kb)

Information for Medical Officers

South Australian Paediatric Practice Guidelines – Pain Management and Opioid Safety

Hours

Weekdays, 8am - 4pm

The Children's Duty Anaesthetist is available out of hours for acute pain management support and daily review of children requiring management by The Comfy Kids Team over the weekend.

Contact Information

Phone

(08) 8161 7000, pager 4302

Staff

Lead Paediatric Anaesthetist
Dr Laura Burgoyne

Nurse Consultants
Rachel Dineen and Ruth Deegan

Senior Pharmacist
Chris Onishko

Mailing Address

The Comfy Kids Team
Women's and Children's Hospital
72 King William Road
North Adelaide
South Australia 5006

last modified: 07 Feb 2020

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