Journal of adolescent health care : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine
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Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) is a method of administering narcotics in which the patient activates a machine to administer a small bolus of narcotic. In the first year of PCA use in our hospital, 26 patients used PCA. ⋯ No clinical respiratory depression was noted, and patients did not titrate themselves to complete analgesia. PCA is an effective means of pain control in adolescent patients.