The practice of medicine devoted to the care and treatment of children as well as the diagnosis and prevention of certain developmental disorders. It covers perinatal medicine, childhood and adolescence, and has evolved sub-specialities such as behavioral pediatrics, pediatric endocrinology and neurology, and neonatology. Many paediatric units cap the age at which they will see children around the age of 18. A major difference between paediatrics and adult medicine is that children are minors and, in most jurisdictions, cannot make decisions for themselves. The issue of guardianship, legal responsibility and informed consent has to be always considered in every paediatric procedure. In a very real sense, pediatricians often have to treat the parents,and sometimes the whole family, and not just the child.
See Beneficience, Child-Adult Medical Procedure Interaction Scale (CAMPIS-SF), Child development, Neurology, Non-Communicating Children’s Pain Checklist (NCCPC-R), Perinatal