Comparison of skin conductance measurements and subjective pain scores in children with minor injuries

Abstract

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 with self-report. A commercially available skin conductance algesimeter was used to record pain in children presenting with a minor injury to a district general hospital. The recordings were compared with self-reported pain scores using the Wong-Baker FACES(®) Pain Rating Scale. Sixty-seven children below 16years of age (36 females, 53.7%, mean age 11.9years, standard deviation 3.1years) 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. 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.