Essential
- Scales make it possible to assess the pain of infants and to adapt the treatments.
- According to a study of the Cochrane organization, scientific evidence of the relevance of these tools is insufficient.
- Another scale, based on reliable evidence, could be created following this work.
Scientists do not know how to assess babies’ pain. In a report published on April 14, experts from the Cochrane organization announced that they have analyzed more than twenty scales of infants’ pain. “”Despite the crucial importance of precisely measuring pain in newborns, the examination revealed that none of the available scales is supported by high-quality evidence “they conclude.
Most infant pain scales lack reliability
In the preamble to their study, they recall that 6 to 9 % of newborns should be admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit (USIN) due to a disease related to prematurity. “”These infants undergo multiple painful procedures daily, which can cause long -term negative effects, they indicate. For this reason, valid tools to support pain assessment are of great importance. ”
They relied on the results of 79 studies, bringing together in total a sample of more than 7,000 infants in 26 countries. In total, they studied 27 clinical pain scales.
“More than 70 % of the rating scales of this examination did not evaluate the content and structural validity, and these two factors are essential when selecting a measurement instrumentannounces Kenneth Färnqvist, physiotherapist of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Without a solid base in these areas, other necessary measures, such as reliability, cannot be evaluated with precision. “ Faced with these results, the authors recommend that medical personnel not “do not”Too much trust ” to existing pain assessment scales and “strive to reduce painful procedures as much as possible in this vulnerable population “.
Pain of newborns: why is it so important to know how to assess it?
These researchers recall that the measurement of pain in newborns is particularly complex compared to adults. “”Such limitations can cause overestimation or underestimation of pain, resulting in unnecessary sedation or insufficiently treated pain, potentially jeopardizing infant safety through treatment side effects, including withdrawal symptoms or prolonged discomfortthey detail. Premature babies still complicate things because they often have a reduced capacity to display a robust pain behavior because of their immaturity. “
Towards new infants’ pain assessments?
For Emma Persad, doctor and doctoral student in the Health Department of Women and Children of the Karolinska Institute, these results, although “disappointing “represent the opportunity to “progress in the evaluation of neonatal pain, in particular thanks to global collaboration and innovation “. These works are an opportunity to develop a new scale, rigorously validated, and responding “to all the necessary controls before its implementation in research and practice “.
