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Problems of Pain Measurement in Children

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Anesthesiology and Pain Management

Part of the book series: Developments in Critical Care Medicine and Anesthesiology ((DCCA,volume 29))

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Abstract

One of the major problems in managing pain in children is the difficulty of measurement of pain intensity. In order to treat pain effectively, one needs to know whether a child is in pain and whether the intensity of the pain is significant enough to warrant subjecting the child to the risks involved in treatment of pain. In addition to making judgments about the appropriate forms of pain therapy, there is another important reason for measurement of pain in children. Regular use of these measurement techniques by nurses will help raise awareness of staff about the need for appropriate pain therapy. We have attempted to have pain measured on all children in the postoperative period as a way of ensuring that children are treated appropriately. If a measurement is made and a number is charted on the patient’s notes, then it is more likely that the child will be treated than if no attempt is made to measure pain at all. It is our belief that systematic attempts at pain measurement are important to the overall success of a pain program in a hospital.

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Authors
  1. D. C. Tyler
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, The University of Utah Medical School, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

    T. H. Stanley  & M. A. Ashburn  & 

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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Tyler, D.C. (1994). Problems of Pain Measurement in Children. In: Stanley, T.H., Ashburn, M.A. (eds) Anesthesiology and Pain Management. Developments in Critical Care Medicine and Anesthesiology, vol 29. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0816-4_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0816-4_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-4350-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-0816-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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