Not small adults: the emerging role of pediatric pain services.
OBJECTIVE
This review article explores the need for specialized pain care for children and adolescents and provides some historical context for our current knowledge base and clinical practice.


RESULTS
Pediatric patients have specialized needs with respect to assessment and management of pain. Acute pain care is modified by developmental considerations in both these areas; chronic pain encompasses a wide range of complex developmental, social, and psychological factors requiring the skills of different health disciplines to provide the best care.


CONCLUSIONS
Awareness of children's pain has increased dramatically over the past three decades, and Canadians have performed a leadership role in much of the research. Specific multidisciplinary teams are a more recent phenomenon, but they are shown to be more effective and probably more cost effective than traditional treatment models. Important gaps in availability of resources to manage these patients remain.
Centre for Pediatric Pain Research, IWK Health Centre, Dalhousie University, 5850 University Ave, Halifax, NS, B3K 6R8, Canada, allen.finley@dal.ca.
G Allen
GA
Finley
Jill
J
MacLaren Chorney
Lori
L
Campbell
D059787:Acute Pain / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000628:therapy*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D059408:Pain Management / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D010372:Pediatrics