Since pain management became a speciality in its own right and following the tremendous breakthroughs made by several pioneer researchers, we have seen major developments in the field and a growing international interest represented at the many national conferences and the World Pain Congress and European Congress. But there is still much to do, as there are still groups under-represented in the research such as children, older adults and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Also, we do not have all the answers and pain is an area, where traditional medicine may well be complemented by the field of complementary and alternative therapies. In this book, we have gathered recent papers related to many aspects of pain and pain management and it is our hope that you will all benefit from the wisdom in the many research papers.

The topics covered within this book aim to consolidate some of the current thinking around pain in children. For many years it was believed that children, and in particular babies; did not feel pain. But over the last twenty years or so this perspective has changed and we have seen many highly specialised pain clinics being set up around the world, dedicated to address the needs of the younger members of the population -- thus acknowledging that children in pain are not simply "smaller adults", but have particular experiences and requirements that can only be addressed by experts in the field, who are aware of the developmental factors that may influence their pain experience.