Acute pediatric pain management in the primary care office

Pain is a chief complaint in children seeking medical care, yet it may also be experienced in evaluation and treatment during office visits. Inadequate relief of children’s procedural pain and distress not only affects the experience of the children and their parents, but also adversely affects procedural outcomes. Despite increasing awareness and research, management of procedural pain and anxiety in children is often inadequate. In addition, parent and patient satisfaction is often tied to pain management. Development of a pain management plan must be systematic, individualized, and multimodal. We present a review of nonpharmacologic modalities, topical and oral analgesic agents, and intranasal adjuncts for use in routine outpatient practice.