A conceptual model and practice framework for managing chronic pain in children and adolescents.

Pain is a complex phenomenon: a sensory experience originating in traumatized tissues; an emotional (affective) experience that signals danger in the internal (body) or external environment; and a "disposition to act" that results either in "action" that prioritizes escape or in "inhibition of action" to minimize injury or facilitate healing. Recent advances in our understanding of the affective components of pain have significant implications for the treatment of chronic pain in children and adolescents. This article describes a chronic pain clinic for children and adolescents developed by the pain service of a large pediatric teaching hospital.