Acute pain in children: from measuring to pharmacological and not pharmacological treatment

Key words: Pain, Measurement, Treatment, Emergency Unit

Background - Pain is a relevant symptom reported by children who require Emergency Unit evaluation, but it is still underestimated and undertreated.
Purpose - This review offers simple information about pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches in the management of pain in emergency settings and in subcentres.
Data sources - Found on PubMed articles, using different key-words: pain, procedural pain, children, emergency unit, epidemiology, measurement, management, and treatment.
Results - Pain has to be measured before treatment. It can be controlled with non-pharmacological and pharmacological approaches, which have specific guidelines.
Conclusions - Instruments for any kind of pain are available; an insufficient management is attributable to poor knowledge rather than to lack of means.