Purpose: Children's and adolescents' pain experiences are complex and multidimensional. Therefore, assessing a single dimension of pain intensity is in many instances inadequate. The purpose of this case report is to illustrate the benefits of using a multidimensional pain tool to assess vaso-occlusive pain in children and adolescents with sickle cell disease.
Conclusions: The adolescent pediatric pain tool (APPT) provides a valid multidimensional pain assessment that facilitates individual pain assessments that optimize children's and adolescents' pain relief interventions and outcomes.
Practice implications: The APPT is particularly valuable when clinicians encounter children and adolescents experiencing complex, difficult to manage pain.