[Maybe it hurts more than we think! Neonatal pain]
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Neonatal pain is often undertreated due to misconceptions about immature nervous systems. However, research confirms that preterm infants and newborns can feel pain, necessitating better pain management strategies.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Pediatrics
Context:
- Neonatal pain management is frequently inadequate.
- A common misconception is that newborns and preterm infants do not feel pain due to immature nervous systems and lack of myelination.
- Evidence indicates that fetuses and neonates can perceive and react to painful stimuli.
Purpose:
- To provide an overview of pain ontogeny in neonates.
- To discuss the short- and long-term consequences of neonatal pain.
- To examine pain perception in vulnerable infant populations, including premature infants.
Summary:
- The development of pain pathways (ontogeny) in newborns is reviewed.
- Both immediate and lasting effects of pain exposure in infancy are examined.
- The capacity for pain sensation in premature infants and neonates is explored through human and animal studies.
Impact:
- Highlights the need for improved pain assessment and treatment in neonates.
- Challenges the assumption that newborns are insensitive to pain.
- Informs clinical practice regarding pain management for premature infants and newborns.
Abstract:
Neonatal pain is often undertreated. This is based on the assumption that because of the immature nervous system and the lack of the myelinisation preterm and newborn does not feel pain. It is confirmed by a number of articles that the fetus and neonate can experience and respond to painful events. This publication gives a brief overview of the ontogeny of the pain, short- and long-term postnatal consequences, as well as the perception of the possibility of a particularly frail child population: premature infants and neonates, based on animal and human studies.