My son has leg pain, now what? Extended care for children with chronic pain

Abstract

Musculoskeletal pain is one of the most common conditions in pediatric care, and may be called in different ways ("growing pain" or "limb pain", "idiopathic musculoskeletal pain" or "painful amplification syndrome" to "fibromyalgia juvenile syndrome"). Multiple physical and non-physical factors are strongly related to the onset, frequency, intensity and perpetuation of pain and in the presentation of these conditions, cultural, spiritual, cognitive and behavioral aspects can interfere with sensory perception and the final painful experience, being, therefore, necessary , perceiving its context and the impact on school life, relational, routine activities of the child and caregivers. This article, based on the clinical case of an adolescent, intends to present a dialogue between biomedical, psychoanalytic and philosophical knowledge in an attempt to approach the singularity of subjects who, with chronic diseases, need this expansion of care to know themselves alive.