Construction of an Evidence Ecosystem‐Based Postoperative Pain Management Programme for Paediatric Patients

ABSTRACT Aim To construct an evidence ecosystem‐based postoperative pain management programme for children with postoperative pain management. Design A mixed research design that combines qualitative and quantitative studies. Methods According to the literature search and analysis, the postoperative pain management programme for children was constructed from three aspects: assessment of pain intensity of children, management principles and management methods, and the preliminary draft of the programme was finally constructed to include three first‐level entries and 11 second‐level entries. In January–February 2023, the first draft of the postoperative pain management programme for children was developed based on a literature review using the ecosystem of evidence theory as the research framework; in March–April 2023, the postoperative pain management programme for children was revised and finalised through two rounds of Delphi expert consultation. Results In the second round of expert consultation, the return rate of valid questionnaires was 100%, the expert authority coefficient was 0.83, the importance scores and feasibility scores of each entry were > 3.5, the coefficients of variation were < 0.25, the Kendall's harmony coefficients of the importance scores of the entries were 0.650 ( χ 2 = 273.134, p < 0.001) and those of the feasibility scores were 0.649 ( χ 2 = 272.720, p < 0.001). The resulting postoperative pain management programme for the affected patients included three level 1, 11 level 2 and eight level 3 entries. Patient or Public Contribution The postoperative pain management programme for children constructed based on the evidence ecosystem is practical and scientific, but its effectiveness in clinical practice needs to be further verified by a controlled study design. Objectives Evidence ecosystem; paediatrics, surgery; pain; Delphi method.