Assessment of paediatric pain: a critical review.

Pain is a complex experience, and its quantification involves many aspects including physiological, behavioural, and psychological factors. References related to the topic were selected and analysed, along with a PubMed search of the recent and earlier reports. Assessment of pain in infants and children has always been a dilemma for the clinicians. Unlike in adults, it is difficult to assess and effectively treat pain in paediatric age groups, and it often remains untreated or undertreated. Misperceptions are attributed not only to the difficulties in isolating the specific signs of pain but also in recognising and inferring the meaning of the cues available in the complex of individual differences in the reaction pattern of children to pain. In children, several parameters such as age, cognitive level, type of pain, etc. are required to be considered for the selection of appropriate pain assessment tools. Although considerable progress has been made, there is a critical need for a more accurate measurement tool for both research and clinical purposes. This review has critically analysed the various techniques available to assess pain in children with emphasis on current research and present-day status of paediatric pain assessment.