Related Experiment Videos
Pain relief for neonatal circumcision.
B Brady-Fryer1, N Wiebe, J A Lander
1Child Health - Critical Care, Capital Health, Royal Alexandra Hospital, 10240 Kingsway, Room 5027-10 DTC, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T5H 3V9. barbbradyfryer@cha.ab.ca
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
|October 21, 2004
Summary
Dorsal penile nerve block (DPNB) is the most effective pain relief for newborn circumcision, outperforming eutectic mixture of analgesics (EMLA). While both interventions are safe, neither completely eliminates circumcision pain.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal care
- Pain management
- Surgical procedures
Background:
- Circumcision is a common yet painful procedure for newborn males.
- Effective pain management interventions exist but are not universally applied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy and safety of pain reduction interventions during neonatal circumcision.
- To compare different pain management techniques for this procedure.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published up to May 2004.
- Searched multiple databases including Cochrane, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL.
- Included RCTs comparing pain interventions against placebo, no treatment, or other active interventions.
Main Results:
- Thirty-five trials involving 1,984 newborns were analyzed.
- Dorsal penile nerve block (DPNB) significantly reduced heart rate, crying time, and improved oxygen saturation compared to placebo.
- Eutectic mixture of analgesics (EMLA) also reduced pain scores and crying, but was less effective than DPNB.
Conclusions:
- DPNB is the most effective intervention for managing circumcision pain in newborns.
- EMLA is effective but less so than DPNB; both appear safe for neonatal use.
- No intervention completely abolished the pain response to circumcision.