Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 15, 2026
A Preterm Rat Model for Pain Studies
Published on: February 9, 2024
Pain relief for simple procedures in New Zealand neonatal units: practice change over six years
Paul Heaton1, David Herd, Andrew Fernando
1Yeovil District Hospital, Yeovil, UK. paul.heaton@ydh.nhs.uk
Aim:
Newborn infants are routinely exposed to pain. We wanted to see how practice regarding pain relief changed over a 6-year period.
Methods:
Serial audits were carried out of existing practice and attitudes at three points, over a 6-year span, in New Zealand neonatal units.
Results:
Almost all units agreed that many commonly performed procedures were painful over the 6-year study period. The number of units using analgesia rose markedly over the same period.
Conclusions:
The fact that a simple, cheap and effective intervention (oral sucrose) has taken more than 6 years to be used routinely in New Zealand highlights the problem of turning evidence into practice.
