Ukraine's first Pain Center, located at a children's hospital, has opened in Lviv
A Pain Management Center has opened at St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital in Lviv—the first facility of its kind in Ukraine to be established specifically within a children’s medical institution. Its specialists will help children suffering from acute and chronic pain following complex injuries, surgeries, and wounds.
Similar centers are already operating at St. Panteleimon and St. Luke Hospitals, where, among others, severely wounded Ukrainian servicemen receive care.
The impetus for creating the new unit was the story of 11-year-old Sofia from the Ternopil region, who was involved in a serious traffic accident in December 2025.
The girl was struck by a truck at a crosswalk. She sustained multiple injuries and fractures to her pelvis, thigh, and lower leg. There was even a risk of amputation of her right leg.
To prevent this, doctors at the Ternopil Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital fitted Sofia with three Ilizarov frames. Due to the severity of her injuries, the child was later transferred to Lviv for treatment.
At the hospital, the girl spent four months in the intensive care unit, followed by several more weeks in the surgical ward.
Due to significant soft-tissue defects, Sofia underwent several autologous skin graft surgeries. Each dressing change was accompanied by severe pain.
According to her mother, they even had to call an anesthesiologist to administer pain relief just to change the child’s clothes. In total, Sofia underwent nearly 60 procedures requiring anesthesia.
Anesthesiologist Andreas Vyatrovsky, who now heads the newly established Pain Management Center, helped significantly alleviate Sofia’s condition.
“Sofia came to us with shattered bones and massive tissue damage. She was in excruciating pain that prevented her from even turning over in bed, let alone undergoing rehabilitation. Once we performed regional nerve blocks and achieved adequate pain control, the child immediately began to improve: her healing accelerated, and she was able to move. It was precisely cases like this that prompted us to open the Pain Center,” said Andreas Vyatrovsky.
Experts emphasize that pain management is a crucial part of treatment and rehabilitation, as severe pain can prevent a child from moving, undergoing necessary procedures, and recovering from injuries.
The new Pain Center is the first in Ukraine to operate within a children’s hospital.
The main goal of the medical staff is to reduce the pain barrier that prevents children from fully recovering, getting back on their feet, and returning to their normal lives.
This field has become particularly relevant amid a full-scale war, as Ukrainian children are sustaining complex blast injuries and severe wounds as a result of Russian attacks.
A multidisciplinary team will work at the center, including anesthesiologists, surgeons, trauma specialists, physical therapists, and psychologists.
The specialists will help children with acute postoperative and chronic pain following severe multiple traumas and injuries.
“Using regional nerve blocks, modern sedation, cryotherapy, laser therapy, and pressotherapy, we can provide comprehensive care to help every child return to a normal life much faster,” added Andreas Vyatrovsky.
Sofia has now returned home. Her wounds have healed, leaving only scars.
The doctors managed to save the girl’s leg and get her back on her feet, after which she continued her recovery at home.
The Pain Center at the Lviv Children’s Hospital was opened with the support of international partners. The Government of Flanders purchased equipment for high-quality pain management for children, and the CodeLions For Ukraine Foundation provided the unit with computer equipment.
As a result, the new center is set to become a place where children with the most severe injuries will receive help managing their pain not only during treatment but also throughout all stages of their subsequent rehabilitation.
This was reported by the hospital.
Earlier, specialists at the St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital of the First Medical Association in Lviv successfully performed a complex kidney-preserving surgery on an 8-year-old boy from the Ternopil region using the Senhance robotic system with built-in artificial intelligence.
Doctors diagnosed a 35-year-old woman from Lviv with an extremely rare jaw condition.
As a reminder, Ukraine will establish its first Center for Robotic Surgery.
In Lviv, doctors performed a rare combined surgical procedure. During a cesarean section, a 26-year-old woman simultaneously underwent removal of a recurrent ventral hernia, which could have caused serious complications after childbirth.
