Nonpharmacological Pain Management in Neonates

Pain is defined as unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with tissue damage. Newborns are especially vulnerable to pain and its deleterious effects, as they have larger receptive fields for nociceptive impulses and possibly a higher density of nerve endings and concentration of substance P receptors 1) . The density of proprioceptive nerve ending is equal to the adult, also they have a lower threshold for excitation and sensitization. In neonates the harmful effects of pain include irritability, fear, sense of mistrust towards caregiver, disturbed sleep and wakefulness cycle, delayed wound healing, altered immunological functions, biochemical alterations in energy metabolism2), negative effects on the developing brain and behavior. Neonates requiring intensive care admission exposed to various types of painful stimuli such as venipuncture, arterial puncture, suction, catheterization or invasive procedures as, lumbar puncture, CVC and bronchoscopy. The responses to pain in a newborn are nonverbal and include physiological and autonomic manifestations as changes in heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation3), also behavioral changes as crying, change in facial expressions and body movement. These parameters are used for pain assessment in various scales4). For example, total facial activity and cluster of specific facial findings (brow bulge, eye squeeze, nasolabial furrow, open mouth) were associated with acute and postoperative pain5\*6). Example of most commonly used scales in assessment of pain7), the Premature Infant Pain Profile (PIPP)8), Neonatal Pain Agitation and Sedation Scale (N-PASS)9), Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS) and the CRIES scale (Crying, Requires Oxygen Saturation, Increased Vital Signs, Expression, Sleeplessness).12)