Summary

What it measures:

FLACC is a behavioral pain assessment scale used for nonverbal or preverbal patients who are unable to self-report their level of pain. Pain is assessed through observation of 5 categories including face, legs, activity, cry, and consolability.

A revised version (rFLACC) includes behaviors specific to children with cognitive impairments. (1)

Target Population:

Infants and children aged 2 months to 18 years. Target populations include children with mild to severe cognitive impairments, developmental delay, and cerebral palsy. (2, 3)  Values are also used to interpret postoperative pain in children with mild to severe cognitive impairments, and pain secondary to trauma, surgery, cancer, and other diseases in preverbal children (4, 5).