[Interdisciplinary position paper "Perioperative pain management"]. / Interdisziplinäres Positionspapier "Perioperatives Schmerzmanagement".

Despite many positive developments, postoperative pain and its treatment is still not always given the necessary attention. Severe pain after surgical procedures affects a significant proportion of patients. This very fact is not only detrimental to the immediate recovery process, but can also form the basis for the development of chronic pain conditions.An adequate and effective management of perioperative pain requires appropriate organizational structures. This multidisciplinary paper which was initiated by the Austrian Society for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care and the Austrian Pain Society and developed together with numerous specialist and professional societies dealing with the subject aims at supporting the organization of perioperative pain management structures and to make best use of proven concepts. Additional recommendations describe specific interventions for selected types of intervention.

[Pediatric perioperative systemic pain therapy: Austrian interdisciplinary recommendations on pediatric perioperative pain management]. / Perioperative systemische Schmerztherapie bei Kindern : Österreichische interdisziplinäre Handlungsempfehlungen zum perioperativen Schmerzmanagement bei Kindern.

BACKGROUND: Many analgesics used in adult medicine are not licensed for pediatric use. Licensing limitations do not, however, justify that children are deprived of a sufficient pain therapy particularly in perioperative pain therapy. The treatment is principally oriented to the strength of the pain. Due to the degree of pain caused, intramuscular and subcutaneous injections should be avoided generally. NON-OPIOIDS: The basis of systemic pain therapy for children are non-opioids and primarily non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). They should be used prophylactically. The NSAIDs are clearly more effective than paracetamol for acute posttraumatic and postoperative pain and additionally allow economization of opioids. Severe side effects are rare in children but administration should be carefully considered especially in cases of hepatic and renal dysfunction or coagulation disorders. Paracetamol should only be taken in pregnancy and by children when there are appropriate indications because a possible causal connection with bronchial asthma exists. To ensure a safe dosing the age, body weight, duration of therapy, maximum daily dose and dosing intervals must be taken into account. Dipyrone is used in children for treatment of visceral pain and cholic. According to the current state of knowledge the rare but severe side effect of agranulocytosis does not justify a general rejection for short-term perioperative administration. OPIOIDS: In cases of insufficient analgesia with non-opioid analgesics, the complementary use of opioids is also appropriate for children of all age groups. They are the medication of choice for episodes of medium to strong pain and are administered in a titrated form oriented to effectiveness. If severe pain is expected to last for more than 24 h, patient-controlled anesthesia should be implemented but requires a comprehensive surveillance by nursing personnel. KETAMINE: Ketamine is used as an adjuvant in postoperative pain therapy and is recommended for use in pediatric sedation and analgosedation.

[Austrian interdisciplinary recommendations on pediatric perioperative pain management: background, aims, methods and key messages]. / Österreichische interdisziplinäre Handlungsempfehlungen zum perioperativen Schmerzmanagement bei Kindern : Hintergrund, Ziel, Methodik und Kernaussagen.

These recommendations were originally commissioned by the"Österreichische Gesellschaft für Anästhesiologie, Reanimation und Intensivmedizin" (ÖGARI, Austrian Society for Anesthesiology, Resuscitation and Intensive Care Medicine). Against this background, Austrian experts from the disciplines anesthesiology, pain management, pediatrics and the "Berufsverband Kinderkrankenpflege" (Professional Association of Pediatric Nursing) have with legal support developed evidence-based and consensus recommendations for the clinical practice. The recommendations include key messages which cover the most important recommendations for the individual topics. The complete recommendations on pediatric perioperative pain management consist of seven separate articles which each deal with special sub-topics with comments on and explanations of the key messages. The target groups of the recommendations are all medical personnel of the individual disciplines involved in the treatment of perioperative and posttraumatic pain for neonates, infants and children up to 18 years old.