Therapeutic play as a pain relief strategy for children with cancer

Objective: To evaluate pain characteristics and alterations, demonstrated by children hospitalized with cancer, before and after therapeutic play. Methods: A descriptive field research using a quantitative approach conducted at the Pediatric Cancer Clinic of a public hospital, in the city of Sao Paulo. The data included a sample of 16 children aged 3-9 years using analgesic medication. Results: Among the children participating in the study, 53.8% classified their pain as 1 in a scale of 0 to 5 before therapeutic play and 23.1% classified their pain as 0 after therapeutic play. Conclusions: The alterations observed in relation to pain characteristics are strong indications that therapeutic play is an effective auxiliary strategy for pain management in children.