Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Mar 26;9(3):1517-1521.
doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1033_19. eCollection 2020 Mar.

Pain profile of premature infants during routine procedures in neonatal intensive care: An observational study

Arindrajit Ganguly  1 , Pranav J Bhadesia  1 , Ajay G Phatak  2 , Archana S Nimbalkar  3 , Somashekhar M Nimbalkar  1
Affiliations

Pain profile of premature infants during routine procedures in neonatal intensive care: An observational study

Arindrajit Ganguly et al. J Family Med Prim Care. .

Abstract

Background: Premature neonates receive a large number of painful procedures during their stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). However, there are many other processes that happen in the NICU, which may not be considered painful but can cause discomfort and/or stress to the neonate.

Method: Pain profile during routine procedures in NICU was assessed using the premature infant pain profile (PIPP) score. Neonates of gestational age >26 weeks, less than 7 days old and admitted for less than 7 days in the NICU were included.

Results: A total of 662 procedures were observed in 132 (78 M, 54 F) neonates. The mean (SD) age of the neonates was 2.4 (1.8) days and the mean (SD) birth weight was 2.3 (0.6) kg. 63 (54.5%) were of low birth weight (LBW), 85 (64.39%) were full term. High PIPP score was noted in blood sampling, heel prick, suction, and weight measurement. Significant differences were observed in the PIPP score during blood sampling and suction across gender. Some ordinary and non-stressful procedures also scored very high on the PIPP scale.

Conclusions: The validity of PIPP needs to be reexamined. Our understanding of pain during routine procedures may need to be revisited.

Keywords: Intensive care; neonatal pain; non-stressful procedures; pain assessment; validity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Premature infant pain profile (PIPP) scores of some ordinary/routine and non-stressful procedures
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Anand KJ, Craig KD. New perspectives on the definition of pain. Pain. 1996;67:3–6. - PubMed
    1. Vani S, Thakre R, Nimbalkar S. Research issues in assessment and management of pain in newborns. J Neonatol. 2009;24:358–63.
    1. Maxwell LG, Fraga MV, Malavolta CP. Assessment of pain in the newborn:An update. Clin Perinatol. 2019;46:693–707. - PubMed
    1. Walker SM. Management of procedural pain in NICUs remains problematic. Paediatr Anaesth. 2005;15:909–12. - PubMed
    1. Mountcastle K. An ounce of prevention:Decreasing painful interventions in the NICU. Neonatal Netw. 2010;29:353–8. - PubMed