Standards, Options and Recommendations for the management of procedure-related pain (lumbar puncture, bone marrow aspiration or biopsy, blood sampling) in children patients with cancer (summary report)

Context: The "Standards, Options and Recommendations" (SOR) project, started in 1993, is a collaboration between the Federation of French Cancer Centres (FNCLCC), the 20 French cancer centres, and specialists from French public universities, general hospitals and private clinics. The main objective is the development of clinical practice guidelines to improve the quality of health care and the outcome of cancer patients. The methodology is based on a literature review and critical appraisal by a multidisciplinary group of experts, with feedback from specialists in cancer care delivery. Objectives: To establish the Standards, Options and Recommendations clinical practice guidelines for the management of procedure related pain (lumbar puncture, bone marrow aspiration or biopsy, blood sampling) in children oncology patients. To define, on the basis of the critical appraisal of the best available evidence and expert agreement, the clinical situations in which a pain preventive strategy should be implemented. Methods: MEDLINE was searched using specific search strategies from January 1966 to August 2004. Literature monitoring was performed to identify controlled clinical trials published in 2005. Results: A total of 57 references were identified. Clinical guidelines have been defined for each invasive procedure.