[Non-pharmacological pain management methods in pediatrics and their application at the Bethesda Children's Hospital of the Hungarian Reformed Church].

Authors

Adrienn Vargay, Alexandra Sára Bencsik, Virág Szabó, Ilona Zsófia Székely, Lilla Károlyi, Katalin Forgács-Kristóf, Kristóf Perczel, Andrea Gyimesi-Szikszai, János Major

Published in

Orvosi hetilap. Volume 167. Issue 31. Pages 1215-1223. Aug 02, 2026. Epub Aug 02, 2026.

Abstract

Over recent decades, non-pharmacological pain management approaches have gained increasing importance in pediatric care, as they can be applied with low cost and minimal time investment while significantly contributing to the improvement of care quality. The aim of this review article is to provide an overview of non-pharmacological options for procedural pain management based on the literature, and to present the dissemination of this approach in Hungary through the support of a child-centered, trust-based healthcare model. This paper presents a narrative review of the key findings of international literature on non-pharmacological management of procedural pain. In addition, it describes the practical implementation of an interdisciplinary non-pharmacological pain management program based on the principles of the Comfort Promise, which has been operating since 2021 at the Bethesda Children's Hospital of the Hungarian Reformed Church. The article outlines the steps of implementation, the tools and techniques applied, and summarizes clinical experiences. Methods shown to be effective in the literature - such as distraction, breathing exercises, comfort positioning, breastfeeding, and the use of various sensory tools - are, in line with international evidence, also supported by clinical experience as contributing to the reduction of children's anxiety, increasing parental satisfaction, and improving the quality of care. Experience suggests that integrating non-pharmacological methods into everyday clinical practice does not require significant additional resources; however, it does necessitate a shift in mindset and a structured implementation process. Interdisciplinary collaboration, staff training, the establishment of a volunteer network, and the active involvement of parents and children are key factors for sustainable implementation. Based on current experience, the combined application of this approach and its methods has proven to be effective. According to international literature, anxiety-reducing interventions - including parental presence, appropriate information provision, distraction, and relaxation techniques - contribute to the alleviation of procedural pain through neural mechanisms influencing pain perception, which is also supported by the institutional experience presented. Orv Hetil. 2026; 167(31): 1215-1223.

PMID:
42543014
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 02 Aug 2026.

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