title: [Postoperative pain in children: a gender approach].
abstract: The objective of this study was to verify and describe, from a gender focus, the associations between gender and specific postoperative pain variables in pediatrics. This is a cross-sectional study of 77 children between 6 and 13 years of age (M=9 years; sd=2.2 years), ASA I and II, 77.9% from low-income classes, 68.8% boys and 32.8% girls. Data were collected on the first postoperative (1st PO) day through semi-structured interviews and four measurement scales. The main baseline diseases were adenotonsillitis and fractures. Prevalence of pain on the 1st PO was 91.7% for girls and 75.5% for boys (p>0.05). No association was found between pain intensity and gender. The most used pain descriptors were it cuts and it squeezes. The preferred scale was the EFMC (with faces from a Brazilian cartoon: Monica's Gang). Pediatric pain management is still inadequate and gender may influence the pain response.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Graduação em Enfermagem, Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineiro, Araxá, MG, Brasil. louisefmtm@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Louise Amália
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: de Moura
authors.forename: Ana Carolina D'Arelli
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.forename: Gilberto de Araújo
authors.initials: Gde A
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Lílian Varanda
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Pereira
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D012737:Sex Factors