Facial Expression and Physiological Changes in Newborns Following Procedural Pain

Zisovska, Elizabeta (2016) Facial Expression and Physiological Changes in Newborns Following Procedural Pain. International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research (IJSBAR), 27 (2). pp. 219-228. ISSN 2307-4531

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Abstract

All healthy human beings feel pain and they express it in different ways. Some researchers elaborate that the newborns don’t feel pain, because they have immature brain, and the transmission of the stimuli is not complete or strong. But, evidence was presented that they do feel pain reacting with behavioral and physiological changes. The objective of this study was to assess the importance of facial expression, with the regard to procedural pain during heel prick and to assess the time for recovery after the procedure. The score for facial expression was compared to the objective parameters as pulse rate and oxygen saturation on room air. In the study were included healthy, term newborns, and the pain was assessed following strong recommended instructions. As baseline facial score was considered state of relaxed fed newborn. Although expected, the score for facial expression was the highest during heel prick (2,9/3), but it was even higher for physiological parameters (3,8/6), and longer time was needed for recovery (more than 15 minutes), for the physiological parameters (1,8/6). Surprising result was the score for both facial expression and physiological parameters during preparing for heel prick, thus meaning that even in that period the newborn experiences pain. These results are based on small group of newborns, but nevertheless, it is strongly recommended to consider neonatal pain, assess it and apply evidence based management of procedural pain, due to the results of long term adverse effects on neurobehavioral development of the infant.
Key words: assessment; heel prick; newborn; pain.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: Medical and Health Sciences > Clinical medicine
Divisions: Faculty of Medical Science
Depositing User: Elizabeta Zisovska
Date Deposited: 06 Jun 2016 09:39
Last Modified: 06 Jun 2016 09:39
URI: https://eprints.ugd.edu.mk/id/eprint/15907

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