Assessment of neonatal pain:uni-and multidimensional evaluation scales

Neonatal pain is a problem that is easily overlooked.According to the status quo of neonatal pain management,commonly 9 scales are used for evaluation of neonatal pain;details of the specific indicators,such as the applicable neonatal gestational age range,score,and the type of pain,for the domestic references are provided so as to provide reference for the proper evaluation and standardized management of neonatal pain,as well as to promote the management level of neonatal pain.

Non-pharmaceutical intervention and pain management situation for neonatal analgesia

Neonatal pain management is an important issue which should have great attention.More and more researches have proved that neonates can feel pain when undergoes painful procedures such as vaccination,heel stick,and so on,and it will result in shortterm and long-term outcomes.So it is very important to manage neonatal pain.This article summarized some non-pharmaceutical interventions,including sucrose or glucose,non-nutritional sucking(NNS),breastfeeding,facilitated tucking(FT),kangaroo mother care(KMC),swaddling,heel warming,sensorial saturation(SS),and music therapy,which showed obvious effects for neonatal pain.In addition,this article summarized the progress of neonatal pain intervention in various countries and showed that many countries have not paid enough attention to this problem,while some countries have carried out promotion programs for neonatal pain management which give some clinical enlightenment to our country that we need to pay more attention to this problem.

Pain assessment and management in the newborn:A systematized review

BACKGROUND Neonatal pain has been underdiagnosed due to several false beliefs.AIM To determine the status of neonatal pain in newborns who are admitted to intensive care units.METHODS Different databases were searched.Literature reviews and research reports conducted in newborns that were written in English,Spanish,or Portuguese,published between 2010 and 2020,and having free access to the full text were selected.A total of 135 articles were found,and 18 articles were finally reviewed.RESULTS Newborns are exposed to numerous painful procedures.In order to assess their pain levels,several scales have been used,although they are sometimes not correctly interpreted.In terms of pain management,the nursing team plays a very important role based mainly on both pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches.CONCLUSION Nursing staff members must be well trained in order to identify pain and to interpret the scales correctly.Besides,they have an important role in performing non-pharmacological procedures for pain management.

Acupuncture in Preterm Babies during Minor Painful Procedures

Objective: To evaluate analgesic effects of acupuncture in preterm neonates during minor painful procedures. Methods: Ten preterm neonates requiring heel prick for blood gas analysis were enrolled in the study, which had a crossover design. Oxygen saturation, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, respiratory rate, heart rate, and crying duration were recorded before and after heel prick. Babies were given expressed breast milk before each procedure. Patients were randomly assigned to receive acupuncture or not, and the groups were crossed over on the following day, so that patients who had received acupuncture received only breast milk, and the previous breast milk only group received both acupuncture and breast milk. The neonatal infant pain scale (NIPS) was used for pain evaluation. Results: Crying duration and NIPS pain scores during heel prick were lower in the neonates who had received acupuncture. Conclusion: Acupuncture is an effective method for the treatment of pain in neonates.

Analgesic effect of inhaled lavender essential oil for frenotomy in healthy neonates:a randomized clinical trial

Background Neonatal pain may affect long-term neurodevelopment and must be treated.Frenotomy is a painful procedure wherein a common strategy to relieve pain(sucking)cannot be used because the technique is performed on the tongue.Lavender essential oil(LEO)has sedative and antispasmodic properties and has been successfully used to treat pain during heel puncture and vaccination.Our aim was to demonstrate if the use of inhaled LEO is effective in reducing pain during frenotomy in healthy,full-term neonates.Methods We conducted a randomized clinical trial in neonates who underwent a frenotomy between August 2020 and April 2021.We assessed pain using pre and post-procedure heart rate and oxygen saturation,crying time and Neonatal Infant Pain Scale(NIPS)score.Patients with type 3 tongue tie were randomized into the“experimental group”and“control group”.In both groups,we performed swaddling,administered oral sucrose,and let the newborn suck for two minutes.In the experimental group,we also placed a gauze pad with one drop of LEO under the neonate’s nose for two minutes prior to and during the frenotomy.Results We enrolled 142 patients(71 per group).The experimental group showed significantly lower NIPS scores(1.88 vs 2.92)and cried almost half the amount of time(14.8 vs.24.6 seconds,P=0.006).Comparing with the control group,we observed no side effects in either of the groups.Conclusions We observed a significant decrease in crying time and lower NIPS scores in the neonates who received inhaled LEO and underwent a frenotomy for type 3 tongue-ties.Thus,we recommend using inhaled LEO during neonatal frenotomies.