A Randomized Controlled Trial of Oral Analgesic Utilization for Pain Management of CHildhood Musculoskeletal Injuries

Detailed Summary

Pain management for children presenting to the emergency department (ED) with an injured limb is often under-treated, even though it is known that broken arms and legs cause moderate to severe pain. Further, children are less likely to receive appropriate pain medicine than adults with similar injuries. This study aims to improve the pain treatment of children who present to the ED with a suspected fracture, or broken bone or severe sprain. The investigators will compare the use of 3 different possible medication combinations (ibuprofen alone, oral morphine alone, or combined ibuprofen and oral morphine) to determine which combination is the best at treating children's pain. The investigators also plan to verify the safety of using these different drugs to treat children's pain. The investigators strongly believe that children's pain should be optimally treated in the ED. Adequately relieving children's pain is crucial, as inadequate pain treatment can have both short and longterm effects on the child. It also generates unnecessary stress for both the child and their caregivers/parents. Given this knowledge, the investigators feel that their study has the potential to impact care provided in EDs, and improve pain management safely, for children.

Study Details

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Interventions