ABSTRACT

Background: Pain is a stressful experience and a common health problem worldwide, with children being the most vulnerable in society.

Aim: To provide a systematic review of published research evidence related to the effectivefactors inpain management in children focusing on pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies using valid evaluation criteria.

Methods: The present study is a systematic review which was performed by searching the databases of Elsevier PubMed, Springer, Wiley, and Sage and with the keywords, pain, children, baby, review paper, and systematic management. English articles published between 2002-2019 were selected for further review.

Results: From a total of 1216 articles, 20 articles were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria for further review. The results showed that both pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment methods in relieving and reducing pain and anxiety in a wide range ofpediatric diseases (such as respiratory tract infections, burns, surgery, dental restorations) are effective, although different side effects (such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and gastrointestinal problems) have been observed in children due to the use of some medications.

Conclusion: Due to the side effects of medications, doctors, nurses and parents are more inclined to use non-pharmacological methods in the management of children's pain, however the accurate and effective implementation of these methods is associated with problems and challenges, which indicates the need for further studies on the use of various non-pharmacological methods.