At St Nicholas Children’s Hospital of the First Medical Association of Lviv, a Pain Treatment Centre for children has been opened. This is the first unit of its kind in Ukraine to operate specifically on the basis of a children’s hospital and to specialise in managing acute and chronic pain after severe injuries and operations.
The idea of creating the centre arose after the story of 11-year-old Sofiia from Ternopil region. On 10 December 2025, the girl was hit by a lorry on a pedestrian crossing. The powerful impact shattered the bones of her pelvis, thigh and lower leg, and there was a risk that her right leg would have to be amputated. Initially, at Ternopil Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital, three Ilizarov frames were fitted, but due to the extremely severe injuries, Sofiia was transferred to Lviv, to St Nicholas Hospital, as early as 16 December.
For four months, the child stayed in the intensive care unit, and then spent several more weeks being treated in the surgical ward. Because of large soft tissue defects, she underwent several operations to graft her own skin. Each dressing change was accompanied by such intense pain that an anaesthetist had to be involved and a general anaesthetic used just to change her clothes and dressings. In total, Sofiia underwent almost 60 anaesthetics.
Head of the burns unit at St Nicholas Hospital, Halyna Saian, notes that in cases with large wound surfaces, pain effectively blocks the recovery process, as the child is constantly in a state of acute suffering and cannot move properly or undergo rehabilitation.
Sofiia’s condition was eased thanks to anaesthetist Andreas Viatrovskyi, who now heads the newly established Pain Treatment Centre. The doctors used regional nerve blocks and achieved adequate pain control, after which healing accelerated and the girl was able to move in bed and begin her rehabilitation. It was precisely such clinical cases that prompted the opening of a specialised centre.
«We have brought together a multidisciplinary team of anaesthetists, surgeons, trauma surgeons, physical therapists and psychologists to help children both with acute postoperative pain and with chronic pain after severe polytrauma and injuries. By using regional blocks, modern sedation, cryotherapy, laser therapy and pressotherapy, we can provide comprehensive help so that each child can return to a normal life much more quickly», — Andreas Viatrovskyi
The main task of the Centre is to remove the pain barrier that prevents a child from recovering after injuries, getting back on their feet and returning to everyday life. This kind of support is particularly relevant in the context of the full-scale war, when Ukrainian children are sustaining severe mine-blast injuries.
Sofiia is now back home; her wounds have healed, leaving only scars. The hospital emphasises that a comprehensive approach to pain relief made it possible to significantly ease the child’s suffering and helped her to walk again.
The equipment for the Pain Treatment Centre at St Nicholas Hospital was made possible thanks to the support of partners. The Government of Flanders funded the purchase of equipment for high-quality pain relief for children, and the CodeLions For Ukraine foundation provided computer equipment. With the involvement of the dobro.ua charitable platform and donations from benefactors, a similar centre has also been opened at St Luke’s Hospital. The first such unit had previously begun operating at St Panteleimon’s Hospital, where special attention is paid to pain management for severely wounded military personnel.
This year, Lviv has also approved a municipal programme for the treatment of chronic pain for service personnel and veterans. It provides funding for the necessary medicines and materials so that service members, veterans and other eligible groups can receive such treatment free of charge.
The First Medical Association of Lviv provides a full range of modern medical care — from diagnostics and treatment to complex surgical interventions, rehabilitation and prosthetics. It includes St Panteleimon’s, St Luke’s, St Nicholas and St Anna’s hospitals, the UNBROKEN rehabilitation centre and treatment and diagnostic centres.