[Behavioral response to an acute pain in newborn children with surgical diseases]

The article is dedicated to studying the behavioral response to an acute pain in the newborns with surgical pathologies. The videotaped facial activity (a total of 12 parameters), the general locomotive activity (6 parameters) and cry were studied in 93 newborn children with different surgical pathologies. It was found that the newborn children response differentially to the painful and non-painful stimuli. A combination of 6 signs, i.e. frowning eyebrows, tight eyes, aggravated nasolabial folds, open mouth, and motion of foot, was detected in 93.5% of cases (87 of the 93 children) as a response to a painful stimulus. Such behavior indicates the presence of the painful syndrome in the newborn with a sensitivity of 93.5% and with a specificity of 78.5%. The combination of these signs can signify a characteristic painful behavior in the newborn children and it can be used as a criterion of the painful syndrome in the neonatal period.