Medical procedures as a source of trauma

Many medical procedures, while necessary and appropriate, may be experienced by a child or adolescent as a trauma, with the medical personnel considered as perpetrators in collusion with the parents. The medical procedures and the conditions requiring them are seldom the focus of routine history-taking or therapeutic process. Nevertheless, the long-range effects of these events may have serious and adverse effects on future development and psychopathology. The author presents several clinical examples.