2012AA FLACC Scale Source Information

Authority
The Face Legs Activity Cry Consolability (FLACC) Scale was developed by the Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan Medical School and Health Systems. The FLACC Scale included in the Metathesaurus is extracted from LOINC^® and may not be a complete representation of the original source.

Purpose
The FLACC Scale is a behavioral scale for scoring postoperative pain in children between the ages of two months and seven years or in persons unable to communicate.

Description
The FLACC Scale was developed to provide a simple framework for assessment, while facilitating a reliable and objective means of quantifying pain behaviors in children. This tool includes five categories of pain behaviors, including facial expression, leg movement, activity, cry, and consolability.

Metathesaurus Scope
The Metathesaurus representation of the FLACC Scale is extracted from the LOINC release files.

Audience
The FLACC Scale is used by nurses and other health care providers.

Metathesaurus Update Frequency
The FLACC Scale is updated in each Metathesaurus release as part of LOINC.

Sites Consulted

1. Merkel SI, Voepel-Lewis T, Shayevitz JR, Malviya S. The FLACC: a behavioral scale for scoring postoperative pain in young children. Pediatr Nurs. 1997 May-Jun;23(3):293-7. Cited in: PubMed; PMID 9220806.