A child’s behavior may not always match their pain level. A child might be quiet and withdrawn due to severe pain, which can be misinterpreted as them being “fine.” Conversely, fear and anxiety can amplify behaviors, making pain seem worse than it is. Pain is subjective, and in children it relies heavily on observation and caregiver input. There are also so many myths about the way that children feel pain, most commonly that children don’t feel pain the same way adults do. I have also notices that many potent analgesics are not available in child-friendly formulations like liquids. My oncology war is very good about pain management in general, but I wish that our general surgical and medical wards would get on board. Preprocedure analgesia is something that I feel very strongly about.
