ABSTRACT
Painful diagnostic and therapeutic procedures are common in the emergency department. Adequately treating pain, including the pain of procedures is an essential component of the practice of emergency medicine. Pain management is also part of the core competency for emergency medicine residencies and pediatric emergency medicine fellowships. There are many benefits to providing local and/or topical anesthesia before performing a medical procedure, including better patient and family satisfaction and increased procedural success rates. Local and topical anesthetics when used appropriately, generally, have few, if any, systemic side effects, such as hypotension or respiratory depression, which is an advantage over procedural sedation. Use of local and topical anesthetics can do much toward alleviating the pain and anxiety of pediatric patients undergoing procedures in the emergency department.
Subject(s)
Anesthetics, Local , Emergency Medicine , Pain Management/methods , Anesthetics, Local/therapeutic use , Child , Emergency Service, Hospital , Humans , Pain , Pain MeasurementSubject(s)
Acute Pain/diagnosis , Practice Guidelines as Topic , Scrotum , Spermatic Cord Torsion/diagnosis , Triage/methods , Urologic Surgical Procedures, Male/methods , Acute Pain/etiology , Acute Pain/surgery , Child , Humans , Male , Spermatic Cord Torsion/complications , Spermatic Cord Torsion/surgeryABSTRACT
Trauma is the leading cause of death in children nationwide. Proper management of the pediatric trauma patient involves many of the components contained within standard trauma protocols. By paying strict attention to the anatomical and physiological differences in the pediatric population, clinicians will be assured the best possible outcomes. This article outlines the fundamentals of proper management of pediatric trauma patients.
