Analgesia Nociception Index Monitoring in the Evaluation of Postoperative Pain in Children: A Prospective Observational Pilot Study

In this study, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between the analgesia nociception index (ANI) device and pain scales used in the postoperative pain assessment of pediatric patients who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy.The study was designed as a correlation observational pilot study.Postoperative pain was evaluated using pediatric pain scales (face, legs, arms, cry, consolability scale; numerical rating scale; Wong-Baker scale) and ANI device in school-aged children and adolescents.The mean age of the children was 14.00 ± 1.63 years, and the mean BMI was 22.52. We found a statistically significant positive correlation between the pain scale scores and a statistically significant negative relationship between the pain scale score and the ANI.The ANI device can be used safely and constantly for the objective assessment of postoperative pain in pediatric patients.