Managing a Child’s Pain
Because
Children are
Not Little
Adults
By Kelly Komatz
MD, MPH, FAAP, FAAHPM
P
erhaps the one overwhelming obstacle that palliative care providers face when caring for infants and
children is how to assess and manage their pain—especially since we now recognize that there are
unique features in treating their pain that go beyond “just using a smaller dose” of the pain medications we’d
prescribe for adults.
This article will briefly review the unique physiologic features of the pain experience in infants and children.
It will also review the tools used to evaluate their pain, and touch on some non-pharmacologic methods to
help ease their distress.
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NewsLine
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NewsLine - February 2013