Pediatric postoperative pain management
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19404393Keywords:
postoperative pain; pain management; pediatrics; opioid analgesicsAbstract
Introduction: pain is one of the main reasons for consultation in pediatric patients. Statistically, postoperative pain remains a clinically significant problem today.
Objective: to analyze postoperative pain management in pediatrics.
Method: a systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. A search was performed in the PubMed database using a search strategy for full-text articles published in the last five years (2021–2025). Article selection and analysis were carried out using predefined inclusion criteria.
Results: fourteen studies were analyzed. Among them, four were related to non-pharmacological treatment and eight focused on the use of medications; of the latter, more than 50% focused on opioids. The remaining studies based their analysis on the experiences of healthcare personnel, family members, and caregivers of pediatric patients in pain management. Regarding pediatric age groups, adolescence and neonates were addressed by only one study each. Meanwhile, four studies (28%) focused on pediatric school-aged children.
Conclusions: postoperative pain management remains a topic of interest for the scientific community. An increase in the use of opioids in care and treatment alongside interventional procedures is observed. Furthermore, there is a trend toward the application of non-pharmacological interventions as a treatment option, although both strategies are not yet integrated despite their benefits.
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