Analgesics and sedatives in pediatric practice

Abstract

Like adults, children can experience many different types of acute and chronic pain. Pain perception in children is complex, and is often difficult to assess. There are several scales for children pain assessment like as visual, numeric and visual-descriptive scales. Pain can be treated by a variety of pharmacological and non-pharmacological means. Non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are used for children with pain of mild to moderate intensity, opioids for children with moderate to severe pain, and adjuvant analgesics for chronic neuropathic pain. Sedatives/analgesics are also used in pediatrics for relieving anxiety and pain associated with diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.