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Selvanathan T, Miller SP. Brain health in preterm infants: importance of early-life pain and analgesia exposure. Pediatr Res 2024:10.1038/s41390-024-03245-w. [PMID: 38806664 DOI: 10.1038/s41390-024-03245-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2024] [Accepted: 03/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024]
Abstract
"Everyday" exposures in the neonatal period, such as pain, may impact brain health in preterm infants. Specifically, greater exposure to painful procedures in the initial weeks after birth have been related to abnormalities in brain maturation and growth and poorer neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants. Despite an increasing focus on the importance of treating pain in preterm infants, there is a lack of consensus of optimal approaches to managing pain in this population. This may be due to recent findings suggesting that commonly used analgesic and sedative medications in preterm infants may also have adverse effects of brain maturation and neurodevelopmental outcomes. This review provides an overview of potential impacts of pain and analgesia exposure on preterm brain health while highlighting research areas in need of additional investigations for the development of optimal pain management strategies in this population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thiviya Selvanathan
- Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Department of Pediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Steven P Miller
- Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
- BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
- Department of Pediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
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ten Barge JA, Baudat M, Meesters NJ, Kindt A, Joosten EA, Reiss IK, Simons SH, van den Bosch GE. Biomarkers for assessing pain and pain relief in the neonatal intensive care unit. FRONTIERS IN PAIN RESEARCH 2024; 5:1343551. [PMID: 38426011 PMCID: PMC10902154 DOI: 10.3389/fpain.2024.1343551] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Newborns admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) regularly undergo painful procedures and may face various painful conditions such as postoperative pain. Optimal management of pain in these vulnerable preterm and term born neonates is crucial to ensure their comfort and prevent negative consequences of neonatal pain. This entails accurate and timely identification of pain, non-pharmacological pain treatment and if needed administration of analgesic therapy, evaluation of treatment effectiveness, and monitoring of adverse effects. Despite the widely recognized importance of pain management, pain assessment in neonates has thus far proven to be a challenge. As self-report, the gold standard for pain assessment, is not possible in neonates, other methods are needed. Several observational pain scales have been developed, but these often rely on snapshot and largely subjective observations and may fail to capture pain in certain conditions. Incorporation of biomarkers alongside observational pain scores holds promise in enhancing pain assessment and, by extension, optimizing pain treatment and neonatal outcomes. This review explores the possibilities of integrating biomarkers in pain assessment in the NICU.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith A. ten Barge
- Department of Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care, Division of Neonatology, Erasmus MC—Sophia Children’s Hospital, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Mathilde Baudat
- Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, Maastricht, Netherlands
- Department of Translational Neuroscience, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Naomi J. Meesters
- Department of Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care, Division of Neonatology, Erasmus MC—Sophia Children’s Hospital, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Alida Kindt
- Metabolomics and Analytics Center, Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Elbert A. Joosten
- Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, Maastricht, Netherlands
- Department of Translational Neuroscience, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Irwin K.M. Reiss
- Department of Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care, Division of Neonatology, Erasmus MC—Sophia Children’s Hospital, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Sinno H.P. Simons
- Department of Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care, Division of Neonatology, Erasmus MC—Sophia Children’s Hospital, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Gerbrich E. van den Bosch
- Department of Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care, Division of Neonatology, Erasmus MC—Sophia Children’s Hospital, Rotterdam, Netherlands
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Kavurt S, Arslan Z, Unal S, Bas AY, Demirel N. The effect of oscillometric blood pressure measurement on pain response in preterm infants. J Paediatr Child Health 2023; 59:1251-1255. [PMID: 37694507 DOI: 10.1111/jpc.16490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2023] [Revised: 08/01/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 09/12/2023]
Abstract
AIM Preterm neonates are exposed to many painful procedures in neonatal intensive care units. This study aims to evaluate the effect of oscillometric blood pressure (BP) measurement on pain response in preterm infants. METHODS This prospective study was performed over 4 months in a level III neonatal intensive care unit. Premature neonates whose gestational age was <34 weeks and postmenstrual age <36 weeks were included if they had no systemic diseases. BP measurement was performed on the right arm. The Premature Infant Pain Profile-Revised (PIPP-R) scores were evaluated three times before, during, and 10 min after BP measurement. RESULTS During the 5-month period, 100 preterm neonates (53 male infants) were included in the study. Median birth weight and gestational age of the infants were 1148 (IQR: 1015-1300) g and 28 (IQR: 27-30) weeks, respectively. PIPP-R scores were found to be ≥7 in 34% of neonates. PIPP-R scores increased during BP measurement and decreased after. CONCLUSION Our results demonstrated that oscillometric BP measurement which is generally accepted as a non-invasive tool for monitoring can produce mild pain in premature neonates of postmenstrual age <36 weeks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sumru Kavurt
- Department of Neonatology, Etlik Zubeyde Hanım Women's Health Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Zehra Arslan
- Department of Neonatology, Etlik Zubeyde Hanım Women's Health Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Sezin Unal
- Department of Neonatology, Etlik Zubeyde Hanım Women's Health Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Ahmet Yagmur Bas
- Department of Neonatology, Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Nihal Demirel
- Department of Neonatology, Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Ankara, Turkey
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Kuderava Z, Kozar M, Visnovcova Z, Ferencova N, Tonhajzerova I, Prsova L, Zibolen M. Sympathetic nervous system activity and pain-related response indexed by electrodermal activity during the earliest postnatal life in healthy term neonates. Physiol Res 2023; 72:393-401. [PMID: 37449751 PMCID: PMC10668994 DOI: 10.33549/physiolres.935061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 02/16/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) undergoes a prolonged period of fetal and neonatal development and maturation during which is vulnerable to a variety of influences (e.g. painful experiences). Thus, we aimed to evaluate SNS activity at rest and in response to stressful stimulus (pain) within the earliest postnatal life in healthy term neonates using electrodermal activity (EDA) measures. In twenty eutrophic healthy term neonates EDA was recorded within the first two hours after birth (measurement 1 - M1) and 72 h after birth (measurement 2 - M2) at rest and in response to pain (M1 - intramuscular K vitamin administration; M2 - heel stick). Evaluated parameters were skin conductance level (SCL), non-specific skin conductance responses (NS.SCRs), skin SCL 10 s before pain stimulus (SCL_10 before pain), skin conductance response (SCR) peak after pain stimulus, SCL 10 s after pain stimulus (SCL_10 after pain), SCR magnitude, latency, SCR rise/decline time, SCR half recovery time. SCL was significantly decreased at rest during M2 compared to M1 (p=0.010). SCL_10 before pain, SCR peak after pain, and SCL_10 after pain stimulus were significantly decreased in M2 compared to M1 (p=0.014, p=0.020, p=0.011, respectively). SCL was significantly decreased and NS.SCRs were significantly higher in the recovery period after the pain stimulus during M2 compared to M1 (p=0.015, p=0.032, respectively). Our results indicate EDA parameters sensitive to detect sympathetic changes during the earliest postnatal life reflecting its potential in early diagnosis of the autonomic maturation - linked pathological states in neonates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Z Kuderava
- Department of Neonatology, University Hospital in Martin and Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Comenius University in Bratislava, Martin, Slovak Republic.
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Merritt CR, Cisneros IE, Covarrubias-Zambrano O, Stutz SJ, Motamedi M, Bossmann SH, Cunningham KA. Liquid Biopsy-Based Biomarkers of Inflammatory Nociception Identified in Male Rats. Front Pharmacol 2022; 13:893828. [PMID: 35833018 PMCID: PMC9271856 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2022.893828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2022] [Accepted: 05/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Physicians are challenged in treating pain patients due to the lack of quantifiable, objective methods of measuring pain in the clinic; pain sensation is multifaceted and subjective to each individual. There is a critical need for point-of-care quantification of accessible biomarkers to provide objective analyses beyond the subjective pain scales currently employed in clinical care settings. In the present study, we employed an animal model to test the hypothesis that circulating regulators of the inflammatory response directly associate with an objective behavioral response to inflammatory pain. Upon induction of localized paw inflammation, we measured the systemic protein expression of cytokines, and activity levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) that are known to participate in the inflammatory response at the site of injury and investigated their relationship to the behavioral response across a 24 h period. Intraplantar injection with 1% λ-carrageenan induced a significant increase in paw thickness across this timespan with maximal effects observed at the 8 h timepoint when locomotor activity was also impaired. Expression of the chemokines C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 1 (CXCL1) and C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) positively correlated with paw inflammation and negatively correlated with locomotor activity at 8 h. The ratio of MMP9 to MMP2 activity negatively correlated with paw inflammation at the 8 h timepoint. We postulate that the CXCL1 and CCL2 as well as the ratio of MMP9 to MMP2 activity may serve as predictive biomarkers for the timecourse of inflammation-associated locomotor impairment. These data define opportunities for the future development of a point-of-care device to objectively quantify biomarkers for inflammatory pain states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina R. Merritt
- Center for Addiction Research, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, United States
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, United States
| | - Irma E. Cisneros
- Center for Addiction Research, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, United States
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, United States
- Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, United States
| | - Obdulia Covarrubias-Zambrano
- Department of Chemistry, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, United States
- Department of Cancer Biology, The University of Kansas Cancer Center, Kansas City, MO, United States
| | - Sonja J. Stutz
- Center for Addiction Research, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, United States
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, United States
| | - Massoud Motamedi
- Center for Addiction Research, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, United States
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, United States
| | - Stefan H. Bossmann
- Department of Chemistry, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, United States
- Department of Cancer Biology, The University of Kansas Cancer Center, Kansas City, MO, United States
| | - Kathryn A. Cunningham
- Center for Addiction Research, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, United States
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, United States
- *Correspondence: Kathryn A. Cunningham,
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Walas W, Halaba Z, Latka-Grot J, Piotrowski A. Available Instruments to Assess Pain in Infants. Neoreviews 2021; 22:e644-e652. [PMID: 34599062 DOI: 10.1542/neo.22-10-e644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Pain assessment in newborns and infants is challenging for clinicians. Although behavioral and behavioral-physiological scales are validated pain assessment instruments, their use in this age group has significant limitations. In this review, we summarize the methods currently available for assessing pain in neonates and infants. It is possible that these pain detection methods are also useful for assessing the quality of anesthesia and analgosedation in these populations. Further research should be aimed at confirming the usefulness of these tools in infants and identifying additional pain assessment options for clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wojciech Walas
- Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Opole, Opole, Poland
| | - Zenon Halaba
- Department of Pediatrics, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Opole, Opole, Poland
| | - Julita Latka-Grot
- Neonatal Department, Children's Memorial Health Institute, Warszawa, Poland
| | - Andrzej Piotrowski
- Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Children's Memorial Health Institute, Warszawa, Poland
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Espinosa Fernández MG, González-Pacheco N, Sánchez-Redondo MD, Cernada M, Martín A, Pérez-Muñuzuri A, Boix H, Couce ML. Sedoanalgesia in neonatal units. An Pediatr (Barc) 2021; 95:126.e1-126.e11. [PMID: 34332948 DOI: 10.1016/j.anpede.2020.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2020] [Accepted: 10/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Pain recognition and management continues to be a challenge for health professionals in Neonatal Intensive Care Units. Many of the patients are routinely exposed to repeated painful experiences with demonstrated short- and long-term consequences. Preterm babies are a vulnerable high-risk population. Despite international recommendations, pain remains poorly assessed and managed in many Neonatal Intensive Care Units. Due to there being no general protocol, there is significant variability as regards the guidelines for the approach and treatment of pain between the different Neonatal Intensive Care Units. The objective of this article is to review and assess the general principles of pain in the initial stages of development, its recognition through the use of standardised scales. It also includes its prevention and management with the combination of pharmacological and non-pharmacological measures, as well as to establish recommendations that help alleviate pain in daily clinical practice by optimising pain and stress control in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - María Cernada
- Servicio de Neonatología, Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe, Grupo de Investigación en Perinatología, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria La Fe, Valencia, Spain
| | - Ana Martín
- Servicio de Neonatología, Hospital Sant Joan de Deu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Alejandro Pérez-Muñuzuri
- Servicio de Neonatología, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago, IDIS, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Hector Boix
- Servicio de Neonatología, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain
| | - María L Couce
- Servicio de Neonatología, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.
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Hu J, Harrold J, Squires JE, Modanloo S, Harrison D. The validity of skin conductance for assessing acute pain in mechanically ventilated infants: A cross-sectional observational study. Eur J Pain 2021; 25:1994-2006. [PMID: 34101941 DOI: 10.1002/ejp.1816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Assessing pain in mechanically ventilated infants is challenging. The assessment of skin conductance (SC) is based on the sympathetic nervous system response to stress. This study purpose was to evaluate the validity of SC for assessing pain in mechanically ventilated infants. METHODS A prospective cross-sectional observational design was used to study SC and its relation to: the category of procedure (i.e., painful or non-painful); the phase of procedure (i.e., before, during and after), and referent pain measurements (i.e., Premature Infant Pain Profile-Revised (PIPP-R) and Neonatal Facial Coding System (NFCS)). Eligible infants were those up to 12 months of age, in intensive care units, who were mechanically ventilated, and required painful and non-painful procedures. RESULTS From October 2017 to November 2018, 130 eligible infants were identified, and 55 infants were studied. SC (number of waves per second) during painful procedures (median 0.27, interquartile range 0.2-0.4) was statistically significantly higher than those during non-painful procedures (0, 0-0.09). SC during painful procedures was statistically significantly higher than those before (0, 0-0.07) and after painful procedures (0, 0-0.07). SC showed moderate statistically significant positive correlations with PIPP-R (Spearman's rho = 0.4-0.62) and the four-item NFCS (Spearman's rho = 0.31-0.67) before, during and after painful or non-painful procedures respectively. SC had excellent performance (area under the receiver operator curve = 0.979) with excellent sensitivity (92.31%), specificity (95.42%) and negative predictive value (99.21%) but only sufficient positive predictive value (66.67%) when used to discriminate moderate-to-severe pain. CONCLUSIONS SC showed good validity for assessing pain in critically ill infants requiring mechanical ventilation. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY Pain assessment in mechanically ventilated infants is challenging. In this study, the validity of skin conductance (SC) for pain assessment is evaluated in the same population of infants during painful and nonpainful procedures. SC showed good validity for assessing acute pain in relation to category of procedure, phase of procedure, and referent pain measurements. SC is a promising method, especially with other pain assessment methods and other determinants of pain, in a multimodal pain assessment approach to understand the complexity of pain in mechanically ventilated infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiale Hu
- Department of Nurse Anesthesia, College of Health Professions, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.,School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - JoAnn Harrold
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.,Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Janet E Squires
- School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.,Research Institute, Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Shokoufeh Modanloo
- School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Denise Harrison
- School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Exploration and Validation of Behavioral Pain Measures and Physiological Pain Measures Factor Structure Extracted From the Pain Assessment Tool Item Scores for Infants Admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care. Clin J Pain 2021; 37:397-403. [PMID: 33734145 DOI: 10.1097/ajp.0000000000000931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2020] [Accepted: 02/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to explore and then validate the factor structure of the Pain Assessment Tool (PAT). MATERIALS AND METHODS A retrospective medical record review was performed of all infants who were admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit between 2008 and 2018 and had 1 PAT assessment (n=2111). Scores on items of the PAT were collected. Infants were randomized to either the principal component analysis (n=1100) to explore the factor structure or confirmatory factor analysis (n=1011). RESULTS Infants in the 2 samples were demographically comparable. A 2-factor model, consisting of factors Behavioral and Physiological Pain Measures, was extracted, explaining 39.8% of the total variance. There was a low interfactor correlation (r=0.12), and both Behavioral (r=0.59) and Physiological Pain (r=0.37) Measures factor scores were correlated with nurses' perception of pain scores. When the frequencies in the gestational age at birth categories were compared between upper and lower quartile score infants, there was more with pain at preterm than at term (χ2(3)=44.9, P<0.001) for the Physiological Pain Measures factor, whereas Behavioral Pain Measures frequency was higher at term than at preterm (χ2(3)=8.1, P<0.043). A similar pattern was observed for postmenstrual age at assessment categories: Behavioral Pain Measures (χ2(3)=41.8, P<0.001) Physiological Pain Measures (χ2(3)=46.1, P<0.001). The 2-factor correlated model performed better at explaining the observed variances: (χ2(13)=41.6, P<0.001) compared with rival models. DISCUSSION The PAT assesses both Behavioral Pain and Physiological Pain Measures, and these dimensions need to be considered separately when assessing pain in infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. Behavioral item scores may be insufficient for detecting pain in premature infants if used alone.
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Olsson E, Carlsen Misic M, Dovland Andersen R, Ericson J, Eriksson M, Thernström Blomqvist Y, Ullsten A. Study protocol: parents as pain management in Swedish neonatal care - SWEpap, a multi-center randomized controlled trial. BMC Pediatr 2020; 20:474. [PMID: 33046026 PMCID: PMC7549219 DOI: 10.1186/s12887-020-02356-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2020] [Accepted: 09/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND During the first period of life, critically ill as well as healthy newborn infants experience recurrent painful procedures. Parents are a valuable but often overlooked resource in procedural pain management in newborns. Interventions to improve parents' knowledge and involvement in infants' pain management are essential to implement in the care of the newborn infant. Neonatal pain research has studied a range of non-pharmacological pain alleviating strategies during painful procedures, yet, regarding combined multisensorial parent-driven non-pharmacological pain management, research is still lacking. METHODS/DESIGN A multi-center randomized controlled trial (RCT) with three parallel groups with the allocation ratio 1:1:1 is planned. The RCT "Parents as pain management in Swedish neonatal care - SWEpap", will investigate the efficacy of combined pain management with skin-to-skin contact, breastfeeding and live parental lullaby singing compared with standard pain care initiated by health care professionals, during routine metabolic screening of newborn infants (PKU-test). DISCUSSION Parental involvement in neonatal pain management enables a range of comforting parental interventions such as skin-to-skin contact, breastfeeding, rocking and soothing vocalizations. To date, few studies have been published examining the efficacy of combined multisensorial parent-driven interventions. So far, research shows that the use of combined parent-driven pain management such as skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding, is more effective in reducing behavioral responses to pain in infants, than using the pain-relieving interventions alone. Combined parental soothing behaviors that provide rhythmic (holding/rocking/vocalizing) or orogustatory/orotactile (feeding/pacifying) stimulation that keep the parent close to the infant, are more effective in a painful context. In the SWEpap study we also include parental live lullaby singing, which is an unexplored but promising biopsychosocial, multimodal and multisensory pain alleviating adjuvant, especially in combination with skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT04341194 ) 10 April 2020.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma Olsson
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Health Sciences, Örebro University, S-701 82, Örebro, Sweden.
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
| | - Martina Carlsen Misic
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Health Sciences, Örebro University, S-701 82, Örebro, Sweden
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
| | - Randi Dovland Andersen
- Department of Research, Telemark Hospital Trust, Skien, Norway
- Research Center for Habilitation and Rehabilitation Services and Models (CHARM), Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Jenny Ericson
- School of Education, Health and Social Studies, Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden
- Center for Clinical Research Dalarna, Uppsala University, Falun, Sweden
- Department of Pediatrics, Falun Hospital, Falun, Sweden
| | - Mats Eriksson
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Health Sciences, Örebro University, S-701 82, Örebro, Sweden
| | - Ylva Thernström Blomqvist
- Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Alexandra Ullsten
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Health Sciences, Örebro University, S-701 82, Örebro, Sweden
- Centre for Clinical Research, Region Värmland, Karlstad, Sweden
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