Monitoring Procedural Pain and Distress in a Child With Rett Syndrome: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Whole body vibration training is a viable option for children with Rett syndrome; however, the positioning requirements and intense vibration may be interpreted as pain.

CASE: A 13-year-old girl with a diagnosis of Rett syndrome, Stage IV, participated. The Individualized Numeric Rating Scale was developed in collaboration with the caregiver and scored by a physical therapist and student physical therapists during 16 sessions of whole body vibration training.

OUTCOMES: The therapist and students reached 100% agreement on the Individualized Numeric Rating Scale ratings and successfully provided distractions to prevent pain and distress from reaching a level 5 out of 10 for 139 of 144 sessions.

CONCLUSION

This is the first case in the literature to demonstrate use of the Individualized Numeric Rating Scale with a child who is nonverbal during a potentially painful physical therapy procedure.