The FLACC (Faces, Legs, Activity, Cry and Consolability) is a pain assessment tool, that is used to assess pain in children aged 0-7 years old by observing their behaviour.
The FLACC has five subscales that need to be addressed. The final score indicates whether the observed child suffers pain and 'how much'. The score is often combined with a NRS-score that is completed by the nurses on basis of clinical experience.
Purpose
A pain assessment instrument is a tool in determining the intensity of pain and can be useful in order to determine the effectiveness of pain treatment interventions (pharmacological or non-pharmacological). For young children, it is nevertheless difficult to differentiate between pain or distress/anxiety. This difference is relevant in determining the treatment. The score on a pain assessment instrument remains a snapshot in time.
Evidence Base
For assessing the degree of pain in children with difficulty expressing themselves a number of pain observation instruments exist:
CPB
Comfort Behaviour Scale/ Comfortneo Scale
FLACC
Patient Population
The FLACC assessment score used to assess pain in children between the ages of 0 and 7 years
Information Model
Type
Id
Concept
Card.
Definition
DefinitionCode
Reference
NL-CM:12.13.1
FLACCpainScore
Root concept of the FLACCpainScale information model. This root concept contains all data elements of the FLACCpainScale information model.
Technical specifications in HL7v3 CDA and HL7 FHIR
To exchange information based on health and care information models, additional, more technical specifications are required.
Not every environment can handle the same technical specifications. For this reason, there are several types of technical specifications:
HL7® version 3 CDA compatible specifications, available through the Nictiz ART-DECOR® environment
HL7® FHIR® compatible specifications, available through the Nictiz environment on the Simplifier FHIR
FLACCpainScore
TotalScore
or as spreadsheet 