Treatment of pain in hospital paediatrics

Abstract

The paper presents a review of pain at the paediatric age, which can be considered a question of maximum interest given the novel application of analgesia or other procedures for avoiding and controlling the different types of pain in the course of normal practice during childhood. After a brief introduction on the history of pain and the scarce attention that it has received until recently, the concepts and different actions for dealing with pain are set out, which depend on its aetiology and localisation: pain in oncology, post-operational pain, pain in chronic or acute diseases, pain in intensive care, etc. Tables are presented with the normal doses used at these ages in the different situations required by the child and which the professional might find himself facing. The non-pharmacological attitude is set out as this can be of great use in the initial stages of controlling pain at these ages, and the different forms of sedation and analgesia at the paediatric age are explained, with regard to the medicines employed, the form of administering them and the importance of a multidisciplinary team: paediatricians, child anaesthetists, nursing personnel as well as the necessary technical support for taking the corresponding action.