Exposure to early life pain: long term consequences and contributing mechanisms

Abstract

From an evolutionary perspective, adaptations of an organism to its early environment are essential for survival. The occurrence of early life perturbation, coincident with increased developmental plasticity, provides a unique opportunity for such adaptations to become programmed and persist throughout life. However, adaptations that are beneficial to maintaining homeostasis in one's early environment may result in extreme response strategies that confer vulnerability or dysfunction later in life. This review summarizes recent findings in human and animal studies demonstrating that early life pain results in a hypo-/hyper-sensitive phenotype in response to acute and persistent pain and stress later in life. Changes in cognition and immune function in response to early life pain have also been observed. Recent data on the neural mechanisms underlying these long-term changes are discussed, as well as potential strategies to minimize the impact of early life pain.

Sensory processing disorder in preterm infants during early childhood and relationships to early neurobehavior

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Managing Procedural Pain in the Neonate Using an Opioid-sparing Approach

“…14 Long-term effects of uncontrolled pain include impaired emotional bonding, developmental delay, and hypoactive/hyperactive response to pain, and stress. 15,16 Because of the many negative sequelae from uncontrolled pain in the neonate, proper assessment and treatment are imperative.…”

Avaliação da percepção de dor em recém-nascidos por profissionais de saúde de unidade neonatal

“…A incapacidade dos recém-nascidos em verbalizar a dor é um desafio, fazendo com que dependam de cuidadores e ferramentas para avaliá-los e controlá-la 2 . Isso assume papel fundamental, uma vez que já é evidente na literatura a existência de associação entre as experiências de dor neonatal em recém-nascidos prematuros e o impacto negativo no crescimento pós-natal e no desenvolvimento cerebral, além de efeitos adversos em relação à atenção e ao desenvolvimento cognitivo, emocional e motor [3][4][5] . Em resposta a isso, o Ministério da Saúde (MS) recomendou o uso das escalas para avaliação com a validação de critérios objetivos da dor no recém-nascido (RN) para auxiliar nos processos de identificação e tratamento da dor.…”