Clinical management in an evidence vacuum. Pharmacological management of children with persistent pain.

Abstract

For evidence‐based practice to succeed we need a body of evidence that is large enough to offer precision, rigorous enough to inspire confidence, and direct enough to equitably represent all social groups. Yet in too many areas of clinical practice this remains an aspiration.

In their landmark overview of reviews, Eccleston and colleagues present us with an arresting example of this problem.[1] Persistent pain in children is common and results from a multitude of causes. It is responsible for substantial suffering, disability, and costs to the child, their family, and to broader society. [...]