The pain experience in infants, children, and adolescents.
Postoperative pain in adults has become a subject that has seen increasing research. The result of that research has been an increase in the type and quality of interventions available for pain relief. Although infants, children, and adolescents also experience postoperative pain, the research and interventions have been slower in arriving. Perhaps this is caused, in part, by the inability of this population to express the pain experience. It may also be because of the reluctance of health care providers to objectively assess and intervene in the pain experience of infants, children, and adolescents. The purpose of this article is to explore the pain experience of infants, children, and adolescents so the perioperative nurse will be better equipped to handle this experience with the patient and the family.
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D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D009871:Operating Room Nursing; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology