BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Children in the postoperative period may have acute pain of variable intensity, and it is up to nurses and physicians to evaluate and treat pain, helping children to live this situation in the least traumatic way. This study aimed at evaluating the incidence of pain and the change in vital parameters of preschoolers in the immediate postoperative period of general surgeries, in addition to identifying prescribed and administered analgesics to treat pain during their stay in the anesthetic care unit (ACU). METHOD: This was a field, descriptive-exploratory, prospective and quantitative research carried out with 32 children submitted to general surgeries and admitted to the ACU of a private hospital in São Paulo. RESULTS: Most patients were males, with predominant age of 4 years. Most common surgeries were adenotonsillectomy, postectomy and adenoidectomy under general anesthesia and most commonly prescribed analgesics were dipirone and paracetamol. Only two children had pain during their ACU stay, being medicated with paracetamol and nalbuphine, with total pain remission. CONCLUSION: Postoperative pain incidence was low, without significant changes in vital parameters.
Anesthetic recovery period; Care unit; Children; Pain measurement; Postoperative pain
