Management of pain in the postoperative neonate

Only recently has the use of anesthesia and analgesia become widely accepted in the newborn infant. This is largely a result of the overwhelming evidence that neonates have the neurologic substrate for the perception of pain and display characteristic behavioral, physiologic, metabolic, and hormonal responses to noxious stimuli. The management of postoperative pain in the surgical neonate begins in the operating room, where techniques can be chosen that will ease the transition into the postoperative period. For postoperative analgesia, the most widely used and effective agents are the narcotics morphine and fentanyl. They may be administered either intermittently or continuously, and with proper precautions may be given to both intubated and nonintubated newborns. Other medications for analgesia and sedation are not as well studied in the newborn, but chloral hydrate and the benzodiazepines are useful for sedation, and acetaminophen may be used for analgesia alone or for potentiating the effect of narcotics. In addition, a number of creative nonpharmacologic techniques are being developed and promise to further decrease the discomfort experienced by postoperative neonates.