The relationship between patient age and pain management of acute long-bone fracture in the ED.

•Patients have a right to appropriate pain management, and physicians are responsible for assessing and administering appropriate pain medication.•Age may be an important factor in whether a patient receives appropriate and timely pain medication.•We examine medical records and radiology reports to determine whether pain medication administration differs between pediatric, adult, and geriatric groups presenting with acute long-bone fracture (ALBF) in the emergency department (ED) setting.•Adults presenting to the ED with ALBF have their pain addressed more consistently than other age groups, and although geriatric patients present to the ED with ALBF more than any other age group, these patients are less likely to have their pain addressed in a timely fashion.•Subgroup analysis of pediatric and geriatric populations indicate significant delay in administration for patients ages younger than 3 or 85 years or older, and we believe that patients within these groups experience the greatest difficulty communicating their needs effectively due age-related issues.