Pain management in the child.

The most common complaint motivating patients to seek care in Emergency Departments is pain. The specialty of emergency medicine has an ideal opportunity to practice compassionate, effective analgesic techniques. Children and adults should have pain treated with the same vigor and concern as if we ourselves or our family members were suffering. The technology is currently available for effective compassionate analgesic techniques to be provided to pediatric and adult victims of illness and injury presenting to Emergency Departments for care. Acute pain should be treated with the same priority given to the medical and surgical emergencies. There are many approaches to treating the above case, all allowing the necessary procedures to be done comfortably. If emergency physicians would treat the pain of their patients as they would want it to be treated in themselves or their families, then we will have made great strides as a specialty in mastering the art and science of analgesia.