ABSTRACT
Pain management in children represents an ongoing challenge for health care providers. The ability of children to experience pain has historically been denied or ignored, and the capacity of children to tolerate anesthesia questioned (Eland & Anderson, 1977; Schechter, 1989), causing many pediatric patients to undergo procedures including surgery without adequate analgesia and sedation. Although continued progress remains to be made, recent increased interest in pediatric pain, along with philosophical shifts and technical advances, have prompted evolution of numerous innovative pediatric pain management strategies and improved care of children undergoing a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures (American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on Pain in Infants, Children and Adolescents, 2001; Howard, 2003). This chapter discusses procedural and perioperative pain management for children.
