Nitrous oxide provides safe and effective analgesia for minor paediatric procedures - a systematic review

Pain and distress during minor hospital-related procedures is a familiar problem in many children. Inadequate relief of children's procedural pain and distress not only affects the experience of the children and their parents, but also adversely impacts procedural success. We aimed to review the safety and efficacy of nitrous oxide during brief, but painful paediatric procedures and to compare nitrous oxide with some of the commonly used pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments for relieving anxiety and mild to moderate pain in Denmark.