Pain Management in the Emergency Department

Abstract

Pediatric emergency departments (ED) have become much more focused on the evaluation and treatment of painful conditions in children. Evidence-based pain management with nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic interventions are provided routinely for children in pain and in need of painful procedures. Implementing the multidisciplinary team approach in the ED will ensure decreased anxiety and pain during the evaluation in the ED. Approaches to procedural sedation and analgesia, simple painful procedures and abdominal pain in EDs have gained signifi cant advances and will be a great resource for primary care providers. This chapter reviews signifi cant advances in pain management in the ED and offers recommendations that will assist primary care physicians to provide the best and expeditious care for acutely ill or injured children with pain.Key wordsEmergency departmentacute paintraumaacute abdomen