ABSTRACT
Chronic and recurrent pain in children is a major health concern that significantly affects most aspects of children’s daily lives. The chronic pain experience in childhood presents a multifaceted challenge to clinicians, as it not only causes suffering and interruption to daily living, but also has distinctive issues that are individual to each child and family. Acute injury or disease may cause the pain and nervous system sensitization and this often resolves after healing of the tissue. In the absence of a cure or treatable cause, the major goal of care for children with chronic and recurrent pain conditions is to restore health and function through interdisciplinary rehabilitative programs. The chapter addresses the overall assessment and management of three most common pain conditions arising from musculoskeletal, nervous system disorders, and viscera, as archetypes of the complex nature of chronic and recurrent pain syndromes in children.
