Effective management of children’s pain and anxiety in the emergency department
Effective management of children’s pain and anxiety during emergency department (ED) visits facilitates medically necessary care and procedures and increases patient, family, and health care provider satisfaction. This chapter will review evidence-based techniques for achieving this goal. A significant focus is upon non-pharmacological strategies to relieve children’s anxiety because high levels of anxiety exacerbate sensitivity to pain and disrupt coping mechanisms of the child and parent. In addition, advances in techniques for pain relief for specific procedures will be detailed. Aspects of procedural sedation and analgesia that are especially pertinent to the ED will also be reviewed along with two recommended regimens for moderate and deep sedation.