Postoperative pain is a major concern in routine management of children admitted to pediatric intensive care treatment. There are significant negative physiological and psychological ramifications of postoperative pain such as impairment of cardiac function due to tachycardia, restlessness in an intubated patient requiring increase dosage of sedative and paralytic drugs and reduced patient cooperation in the healing process.

The main body of evidence dealing with gender differences in pain perception and treatment stems from studies in the adult and adolescent population as the gonadal hormones have a central role in the way one experiences pain The hypothesis of this study is that there is a difference in the perception of pain, the amount of analgesia used and the response to pain medication between male and female infants undergoing craniosynostosis repair or untethering of cord.

Inclusion Criteria:

All infants 0-1 year old, admitted to PICU after craniosynostosis repair or untethering of cord.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Contraindication to analgesic medication
2. Infants with neurologic deficits that may hinder the assessment of pain severity such as facial nerve palsy and limb paralysis.
3. Ventilated infants.

All infants 0-1 year old, admitted to PICU after craniosynostosis repair or untethering of cord.