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Acute Pain in Children, Post-Operative

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Encyclopedia of Pain

  • 34 Accesses

Synonyms

Pediatric Post-Surgical Pain; Acute Post-Operative Pain in Children

Definition

Children who have surgery experience significant postoperative pain for several days. Appropriate pain management should be initiated in the immediate post-operative period and continue until the pain resolves, whether the child is at home or in the hospital. Surgical trauma results from tissue destruction and musculoskeletal strain that causes the release of vaso- and immuno-reactive substrates that promote inflammation, hyperpermeability and pain.

Ineffective pain management increases the incidence of postoperative behavioral disorders in children and the risk of developing persistent or neuropathic pain. In preterm infants and neonates, this effect may be compounded by the lack of descending inhibitory pathways and enhanced neuroplasticity resulting in more extensive, persistent effects (Tachibana et al. 2001). Despite advances in the management of post-operative pain, nearly 70% of patients...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, Scott and White Memorial Hospital, Temple, TX, USA

    Jolene D. Bean-Lijewski

Authors
  1. Jolene D. Bean-Lijewski
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Physiological Institute, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

    Robert F. Schmidt

  2. Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA

    William D. Willis

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© 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Bean-Lijewski, J. (2007). Acute Pain in Children, Post-Operative. In: Schmidt, R., Willis, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pain. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29805-2_69

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29805-2_69

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-43957-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-29805-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

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