Pain, Hurt, and Harm -- The Ethics of Pain Control in Infants and Children

It has long been recognized that patients receive less relief from pain than they should1,2. A recent review concluded that pain can be relieved effectively in 90 percent of patients but is not relieved effectively in 80 percent of patients3. The tendency toward undermedication for pain is even more pronounced in children than in adults4. There are large discrepancies between the amounts of postoperative analgesia ordered for and administered to adults and those ordered for and administered to children who have the same diagnoses and have undergone the same procedures5,6.Interest in pain control . . .