title: Issues and advances in pain control in children.
abstract: Increased interest in the topic of pain has resulted in pharmacologic advances that provide new possibilities for pain relief in children. It has also resulted in new nonpharmacologic therapies that are now being used more frequently with children. It is hoped that these advances will continue so that health care providers will have a larger repertoire of pain control methods effective with children, and so that the traumatic aspects of hospitalization and health care can be reduced greatly. The pain experienced by children has heretofore been on the backroads of scientific and scholarly development. As a result, we actually know very little about pediatric pain, its measurement, and its treatment. The literature and research cited previously are strikingly limited for providing a base of knowledge to guide clinical practice. We avoided a "cookbook" approach to the discussion on pain control, because there are many of those available. Instead, we presented a summary of the research that is currently available in the attempt to help nurses better recognize the limitations in what we know with certainty about this important topic. We hope that this knowledge will spur readers to examine their own beliefs and knowledge, question former assumptions about pediatric pain, and promote a more inquiring approach to assessment and management of children's pain. Pain is a multidisciplinary problem. Although health care providers from the various disciplines each approach the pain problem from different angles, each approach has its place in the overall picture of solving the problems of pediatric pain control. Nurses have been and will continue to be a vital part of clinical and scientific advancements to move pediatric pain out of the realm of mystery and into the realm of the known.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Beyer
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Levin
mesh_terms: D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002056:Burns / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004993:Ethics, Nursing; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000451:nursing; D059408:Pain Management; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics