Prevention and Treatment of Neonatal Pain Syndrome

Objective: to study physicians’ approaches to preventing and treating the neonatal pain syndrome, including those to choosing behavioral measures and drugs, which could assess their experience, knowledge, and to direct ways of improving the quality of neonatal inpatient care.

Subjects and methods. Anonymous questionnaire surveys were made among 85 physicians from five towns of Russia, which were followed by the statistical processing of the findings.

Results. Analysis of used drugs has indicated that treatment for the neonatal pain syndrome is based on promedol (37.2%), analgin (33.7%), and novocaine (33.7%): every third physician prescribes them to relieve short-term and painful procedures. It is inadmissible that a number of physicians consider it impossible to administer analgesics during manipulations accompanied by severe pain or, possibly, to use them rarely and in not all cases (from 1.1% to 11.6% of the physicians). The respondents rather infrequently employ comfort measures, including nipple glucose use, for the prevention of mild pain. According to the survey data, maternal-neonatal bonding is highly evaluated during painful manipulations (74.4%).

Conclusion. The investigation has shown that pediatricians treating the newborns are unaware of the current treatment and prevention policy for the neonatal pain syndrome.

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