Campbell-Yeo M, Eriksson M, Benoit B. Assessment and Management of Pain in Preterm Infants: A Practice Update.
CHILDREN (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022;
9:244. [PMID:
35204964 PMCID:
PMC8869922 DOI:
10.3390/children9020244]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2021] [Revised: 01/20/2022] [Accepted: 02/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Infants born preterm are at a high risk for repeated pain exposure in early life. Despite valid tools to assess pain in non-verbal infants and effective interventions to reduce pain associated with medical procedures required as part of their care, many infants receive little to no pain-relieving interventions. Moreover, parents remain significantly underutilized in provision of pain-relieving interventions, despite the known benefit of their involvement. This narrative review provides an overview of the consequences of early exposure to untreated pain in preterm infants, recommendations for a standardized approach to pain assessment in preterm infants, effectiveness of non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic pain-relieving interventions, and suggestions for greater active engagement of parents in the pain care for their preterm infant.
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