Paediatric pain management in general practice

Abstract

Pain is a subjective symptom which is particularly difficult to assess and manage in children. Often, this leads to the underestimation of pain severity in young children. Poorly managed pain can have a long-term impact on the developing child. It's important to be familiar with pain assessment tools to quantify childhood pain and the treatment options which are dependent on the degree of pain. As a general practitioner, it is essential to be familiar with the assessment and treatment of pain in children of all ages.

Keywords:

• pain
• paediatric
• behavioural pain assessment
• WHO analgesic ladder