Pediatric pain management - what are we able to do in Polish emergency medical services?

Abstract

Pain management in emergency medical care remains underestimated, especially in pediatric patients. This is due to neglecting the issue, lack of knowledge in the appropriate use of analgesics and finally- the fear of being criticized by physicians in hospital departments. Moreover, it is difficult to objectively assess a child with acute pain. Even experienced "adult" anesthesiologists wonder how to recognize if a child suffers strong pain or is just anxious. Many different pain scales are available and some of them may be used in emergency medical care.. The administration of analgesia used in children depends on the patient's age and competencies of the providers of medical emergency teams. Proper pain control and treatment brings immeasurable benefits to the psyche of the child and his guardian. The purpose of this review is to draw attention to the existing problem, present pain scales most suitable for specific groups of children as well as analgesia methods and to propose a simple pain management algorithm based on competencies of the various emergency medical services professional groups in Poland.

Keywords: analgesia; child; medical emergency team; opioids; pain.