Painful procedures and analgesia in hospitalized newborns: A prospective longitudinal study

Objective To identify the type and frequency of stressful and painful procedures, the use of pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies; to identify relationships between demographic and clinical variables with frequency of procedures and pain management. Design A prospective longitudinal study was conducted in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) of two hospitals in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. 140 newborns admitted to the NICU between June 2014 and January 2015 were included. Results A total of 21,291 procedures were documented, 18,131 (85.2%) stressful procedures and 3,160 (14.8%) invasive skin-breaking painful procedures. Each day of hospitalization increased by 10.9 the number of stressful procedures and by 2.2 the number of painful procedures. Furthermore, for each day of hospitalization, non-pharmacological strategies registered increased by 3.4% and pharmacological strategies, increased by 9.3%. Conclusion Neonates underwent a high number of stressful and painful procedures and with infrequent use of pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies during the entire hospitalization.