SPPM Update
By Anjana Kundu, MD, ABIHM, FAAP
President, SPPM
Associate Professor, Dayton Children's Hospital
As the second President of the Society for Pediatric Pain Medicine (SPPM), I’m honored to share the accomplishments, current endeavors and future hopes of our very young Society.
The SPPM had its beginnings as a Special Interest Group in Pediatric Pain Management (SIGPPM), coming together for the first time in 2009 during the SPA Winter Meeting. A core group of pediatric pain physicians engaged in clinical practice, education, advocacy work and research came together to create a platform for collaboration amongst all the providers of pediatric pain care. This was solely possible because of the generous leadership of Dr. Sabine Kost-Byerly, who is not only responsible for creating the SIGPPM, but also for transforming the SIG into the Section within the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA) on March 13, 2013 named as the Society for Pediatric Pain Medicine. This would not have been possible without the countless hours of work, guidance and contributions of many dedicated pediatric pain physicians, and most importantly without the generous support and guidance from the SPA leadership.
Dr. Kost-Byerly continued as the President with an ad hoc Board of Directors until we welcomed our elected board members and officers in 2014. Dr. Kost-Byerly and the board have laid down a robust foundation for the Society and paved the way for a very strong and vibrant future. The steep trajectory of the Society’s growth is evident from the member engagement; membership has grown from 590 in 2014 to nearly 900 members, nationally and internationally, in 2017.
Given the multidisciplinary nature of pain medicine, the strength of our society is its multidisciplinary composition.
The core mission of the SPPM is to provide better care for children experiencing pain, through evidence-based clinical practice, education, advocacy, research, quality assessment and improvement, and the development of standards of care in the practice of pain medicine for children.
To that mission, the SPPM educates anesthesiologists, pediatricians, other health care providers, as well as the patient, families, and the general public. As the interests of children are often relegated to a secondary position, the SPPM encourages and supports its membership in advocacy for all children with pain through research, professional and public education, policy development and legislative efforts.
I’m delighted to showcase the hard work of the members, leadership and BOD of SPPM by sharing some of the accomplishments, its short history:
Education
SPPM is committed to the delivery of high quality educational programs in order to address the needs of better care for children experiencing pain. Even prior to us becoming a Society, in our Special Interest Group status, we hosted annual conferences. Starting in 2011, an annual conference organized by Dr. Rita Agarwal showcased an excellent educational program delivered by the top experts in the field of Pediatric Pain Medicine.
The first Annual Meeting of the Society, held in 2014, was chaired by Dr. Petra-Meier Haran, and included international speakers like Professor Maria Fitzgerald, recipient of a Career Achievement Award by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) for her contributions to the advancement of children’s pain care. Led by the members of the Education Committee and the tireless efforts of the program chairs Drs. Robert Wilder, Yuan-Chi Lin, and Stephen Hays, the quality of educational programs at all our subsequent annual meetings has been exceptional. This is evident from a record number of attendees during our most recent and 4th Annual Meeting in Austin.
In addition to the enlightening keynote speakers, the Annual Meeting offers an array of exciting workshops and PBLDs, tackling some of the most challenging pain-related issues faced by the clinicians or issues posing public health crises. The very exciting, evidence-based and informative Pro-Con debates or “Ask the Expert” panels drive participant engagement, while the research abstracts highlight the advances in research and young researchers, including oral presentations by the top winning research work in each of the areas of Acute Pain, Regional Anesthesia, Chronic Pain, Cancer Pain and Palliative Care.
Communications
Our educational endeavors are furthered by the interactive and innovative offerings via our website features, social media and newsletter articles. Dr. Irfan Suleman was instrumental in the creation and maintenance of a comprehensive website that offers access to a host of clinical, educational, advocacy resources to the SPPM members. Our newsletter, published quarterly, includes reviews, case reports, topic updates, pediatric pain related recent research publications, editorials and commentaries. The newsletter and the website also regularly feature any policy changes, regulatory updates relevant to pain medicine and regular contributions by Dr. Raeford Brown, Chair of the FDA Advisory Committee on Anesthetics and Analgesic Drug Products as well as the incoming Chair of the AAP Section on Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine.
Social Media savvy Dr. Deepa Kattail, keeps everyone engaged with regular posts of relevant articles, updates and news relevant to pediatric pain medicine. Adding a new item, “Question of the Month” provides a venue for members to share their unique cases, images and questions related to an interesting, unique or difficult case and learn from each other. Our website is poised for a makeover, making it even more user friendly, so, stay tuned for our updated website in the coming months. Meanwhile, check us out on our website, Facebook and Twitter.
Research
A Research Committee was developed under the leadership of Dr. Sapna Kudchadkar and Co-Chaired by Dr. Benjamin Lee. The committee presents a Research Workshop at the Annual Meeting, as well as oversight for quality of research highlighted at the Annual Meeting. Additionally, the committee offers a platform for collaborative research projects, mentorship to young researchers and also serves as a resource for those seeking validation of their pediatric pain related research concept.
Advocacy
Following our goals and objectives, we have joined efforts with a number of like-minded organizations or organizations with common goals, including the SPA, ASA, AAP, SmartTots and the FDA in advocating for improved safety and quality of care, particularly as it relates to the effects of anesthesia on the developing brain and the safety and efficacy of opioids in children. A mandate from the SPA regarding guidelines for safe use of opioids in the perioperative period involves a majority of the members of the SPPM Board in creation of these guidelines. We are also engaged in the creation of a Pedialink on Opioid Crisis, in collaboration with the AAP Section on Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, which will be available this fall.
The initial momentum for the creation of SPPM as a section of the SPA, providing a resource primarily for the anesthesia providers engaged in the care of children affected by painful experiences and diagnoses, has blossomed into a home for clinicians from many other specialties reinforcing the multidisciplinary nature of pain medicine. Looking forward, we hope to welcome a larger membership as well as leadership from our multidisciplinary partners; the pain psychologists, nursing colleagues, physical and occupational therapists and child life specialists to name a few.
SPPM is proud to acknowledge the tremendous support and guidance from the SPA leadership, our liaisons and collaborations for their alignment with us in our efforts to provide resources for evidence-based clinical care, education and research to advance the quality of care for children experiencing pain. It is truly an honor and a privilege to further the mission of the SPPM as its second president.
