Evaluation of Procedural Pain in Neonates in Cameroon

Introduction: Acute pain associated with caregiving is a major cause of pain among neonates. Left untreated, it can lead to long-term neurosensory and psychoaffective consequences. In Cameroon, this subject has been scarcely explored, thus constituting an impediment to the management of care-induced pain. Objective: Assess procedural pain in neonates in Yaoundé. Material and Methods: We conducted a cross sectional study with prospective data collection over a period of eight months (October 2022 to May 2023) in three hospitals. We included neonates who were being cared for and were not crying prior to the onset of healthcare, whose parents consented to the study. Assessments were done using the DAN scale, which is specific to care-induced pain. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS 23.0 software. Results: A total of 161 newborns were included. The hospital prevalence of care-induced pain in neonates was 85%. Neonatal sepsis was the main cause for admission (96.6%). The most common procedures were venous blood sampling (94.4%) and insertion of peripheral venous lines (93.8%). The pain intensity for these procedures was severe (83.9%). The most painful procedure was lumbar tap, followed by venous access procedures. Conclusion: Neonates in hospitals are subjected to many painful procedures. The pain experienced during these procedures is severe. The most nociceptive procedure is a lumbar puncture.

Effects of white noise on procedural pain-related cortical response and pain score in neonates:A randomized controlled trial

Objectives To evaluate the effects of white noise on pain-related cortical response,pain score,and behavioral and physiological parameters in neonates with procedural pain.Methods A double-blind,randomized controlled trial was conducted.Sixty-six neonates from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in a university-affiliated general hospital were randomly assigned to listen to white noise at 50 dB(experimental group)or 0 dB(control group)2 min before radial artery blood sampling and continued until 5 min after needle withdrawal.Pain-related cortical response was measured by regional cerebral oxygen saturation(rScO_(2))monitored with near-infrared spectroscopy,and facial expressions and physiological parameters were recorded by two video cameras.Two assessors scored the Premature Infant Pain Profile-Revised(PIPP-R)independently when viewing the videos.Primary outcomes were pain score and rScO_(2)during arterial puncture and 5 min after needle withdrawal.Secondary outcomes were pulse oximetric oxygen saturation(SpO_(2))and heart rate(HR)during arterial puncture,and duration of painful expressions.The study was registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry(ChiCTR2200055571).Results Sixty neonates(experimental group,n=29;control group,n=31)were included in the final analysis.The maximum PIPP-R score in the experimental and control groups was 12.00(9.50,13.00),12.50(10.50,13.75),respectively(median difference−0.5,95%CI−2.0 to 0.5),and minimum rScO_(2)was(61.22±3.07)%,(61.32±2.79)%,respectively(mean difference−0.325,95%CI−1.382 to 0.732),without significant differences.During arterial puncture,the mean rScO_(2),HR,and SpO_(2)did not differ between groups.After needle withdrawal,the trends for rScO_(2),PIPP-R score,and facial expression returning to baseline were different between the two groups without statistical significance.Conclusion The white noise intervention did not show beneficial effects on pain-related cortical response as well as pain score,behavioral and physiological parameters in neonates with procedural pain.

Management of procedural pain in the intensive care unit

Pain is a common experience for inpatients,and intensive care unit(ICU)patients undergo more pain than other departmental patients,with an incidence of 50%at rest and up to 80%during common care procedures.At present,the management of persistent pain in ICU patients has attracted considerable attention,and there are many related clinical studies and guidelines.However,the management of transient pain caused by certain ICU procedures has not received sufficient attention.We reviewed the different management strategies for procedural pain in the ICU and reached a conclusion.Pain management is a process of continuous quality improvement that requires multidisciplinary team cooperation,painrelated training of all relevant personnel,effective relief of all kinds of pain,and improvement of patients'quality of life.In clinical work,which involves complex and diverse patients,we should pay attention to the following points for procedural pain:(1)Consider not only the patient's persistent pain but also his or her procedural pain;(2)Conduct multimodal pain management;(3)Provide combined sedation on the basis of pain management;and(4)Perform individualized pain management.Until now,the pain management of procedural pain in the ICU has not attracted extensive attention.Therefore,we expect additional studies to solve the existing problems of procedural pain management in the ICU.

Effect of acupressure on procedural pain before heel lancing in neonates

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effect of acupressure applied to UB60 and K3 acupuncture points in order to relieve the procedural pain caused by heel lancing blood sampling process in the term newborns.METHODS:The data were collected by using the Information Form and the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale.Acupressure applied for 3 min before heel lancing blood sampling in the newborns in the experimental group(n=31).No intervention was applied to newborns in the control group(n=32).RESULTS:A significant difference was found between mean scores of the newborns in the control and acupressure group in favor of the acupressure group in terms of heart rate during and after the procedure,oxygen saturation before,during and after the procedure,duration of crying during and after the procedure(P<0.05).It was found that there was a significant difference between groups in terms of Neonatal Infant Pain Scale mean scores during(P=0.001)and after the procedure(P<0.05),and the difference was found to be in favor of the acupressure group.CONCLUSION:As a result,acupressure was found to be an effective method in relieving pain caused by heel lancing blood sampling in newborns.