Are There Long-Term Consequences of Pain in Newborn or Very Young Infants?

Abstract

Physiologic studies indicate that very early pain or stress experiences have more than immediate consequences for infants. Assessment and care of pain are complex subjects made even more complex and challenging when the individual experiencing pain is a very young infant. This review provides evidence that significant and long-lasting physiological consequences may follow painful insults in the very young, including changes in the central nervous system and changes in responsiveness of the neuroendocrine and immune systems to stress at maturity.Journal of Perinatal Education, 13(3), 10e17; pain, premature infant, newborn, stress, physiological development.

The Effect of Numbing Needles Pain with Topical Anaesthesia on Preterms’ Exposure to Neonatal Sepsis

“…This was constant with Page [38] who explore that immune function is another area impacted by early experiences with pain or stress and consistently shown in animal studies. The current study indicated that there was statistically significant relation between premature infants' behavioral state during needle painful events and their CRP weekly profile.…”

Pain management in the paediatric population: the regulatory situation in Europe

“…The assessment and the care of pain are complex issues made even more challenging when the individual experiencing pain is a very young infant 42. Although several pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies are available, information is not effectively translated into clinical practice 43 44.…”

A consensus model for Delphi processes with linguistic terms and its application to chronic pain in neonates definition

“…Research has shown that pain in the newborn period has consequences later in life, such as altered behavior, increased pain sensitivity and decreased function of the immune system [4,15,28]. To date neonatal pain research has mainly focused on acute and procedural pain.…”