Ankyloglossia in newborns: incidence and breastfeeding follow-up at 1 and 6 months.

Background: Ankyloglossia is an anatomical variation of the lingual frenulum that negatively interferes with the functionality of the tongue. This condition can affect breastfeeding negatively. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of ankyloglossia among healthy babies born in Siena Hospital and the correlation between ankyloglossia and breastfeeding difficulties.

Values of PCT in neonates.

Background: Procalciton (PCT) is a precursor polypeptide of the hormone calcitonin, produced in C cells of the thyroid. It has been demonstrated that microbial toxins and proinflammatory mediators can cause the release of PCT from tissues and cells in the body. PCT thus has become an important marker in the diagnosis of infection.

Verbal Communication with the Patient Is Not Enough: The Six Languages of the Sick.

Evidence shows that verbal communication is just one of the ways patients indicate their wishes. For a sufficiently careful communication, we should also grasp other five unusual though evident languages: (a) body language, (b) the way patients manage their environment, (c) unconscious language, (d) lab-evidenced language, and (e) the way they master technology. So, we have six languages that should be intertwined to understand the real language of the sick.

Neonatal Infant Pain Scale in assessing pain and pain relief for newborn male circumcision.

Circumcision-partial or total removal of the penile prepuce-requires cutting nerve-laden, sensitive genital tissue and is therefore liable to be painful. The aim of this review is to evaluate the evidence concerning pain felt by newborns during circumcision and to determine whether current analgesic methods can eliminate such pain. I performed a search in medical databases, selecting the trials published in the last 20 years that assessed pain in neonatal circumcision.

The Congress "Yes to Life": A Hand Offered in Dialogue.

The Congress "Yes to Life," devoted to the ethical problems in perinatology, has been an important carrefour for the intercultural dialogue on these themes. This paper describes the aim of the Congress and why it was proposed.

Nurses and Doctors Heroes? A Risky Myth of the COVID19 Era.

Recent newspapers reports have named health professionals as "heroes". This is surprising, because in the last few decades, doctors and nurses have been taken into account by mass media only to describe cases of misconduct or of violence. This change was due to the coronavirus pandemic scenario that has produced fear in the population and the need for an alleged "savior".

Analgesia for fetal pain during prenatal surgery: 10 years of progress.

Some doubts on the necessity and safety of providing analgesia to the fetus during prenatal surgery were raised 10 years ago. They were related to four matters: fetal sleep due to neuroinhibitors in fetal blood, the immaturity of the cerebral cortex, safety, and the need for fetal direct analgesia. These objections now seem obsolete.

Management of pain in newborn circumcision: a systematic review.

Male circumcision (MC) is one of the most common surgical procedures performed on neonates. In the last decades, there have been consistent advances in the understanding of pain mechanisms in newborns, and analgesia has become a fundamental part of neonatal care. MC is still often performed with inappropriate analgesic methods, and there is still great variability among the various centers about surgical and anesthethic techniques to do it.

Modified Sensory Stimulation Using Breastmilk for Reducing Pain Intensity in Neonates in Indonesia: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Purpose: Several studies have shown that oral sucrose reduces pain in newborns. However, sucrose has no efficacy in eliminating pain and long-term effects remain unclear. Breast milk may be useful as an alternative, safe sweet solution.

New insights into fetal pain.

Fetal pain is difficult to assess, because the main feature needed to spot pain, is the subject's capability of declaring it. Nonetheless, much can be affirmed about this issue. In this review we first report the epochs of the development of human nociceptive pathways; then we review since when they are functioning.

Evidence-based clinical guidelines on analgesia and sedation in newborn infants undergoing assisted ventilation and endotracheal intubation.

Aim: This review informed pain control guidelines for clinicians performing mechanical ventilation, nasal continuous positive airway pressure and endotracheal intubation on term and preterm newborn infants.

Methods: We reviewed literature published between 1986 and June 2017 on analgesia and sedation during assisted ventilation and before endotracheal intubation in newborn infants admitted to neonatal intensive care units. The subsequent guidelines were developed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach.

Literature review informs clinical guidelines for pain management during screening and laser photocoagulation for retinopathy of prematurity.

Aim: The aim of this study was to carry out a literature review and develop clinical guidelines for pain prevention and control during screening and laser photocoagulation for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs).

Methods: The Italian Society of Neonatology assessed papers published between 1986 and June 2017 and used the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach, to develop new guidelines on pain and ROP.

Results: The Society's pain experts assessed the full texts of 47 papers, including randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials and case-control studies on nonpharmacological and pharmacological measures used in NICUs during the screening and laser photocoagulation of neonates for ROP.

Consents or waivers of responsibility? Parents' information in NICU.

Background: Informing the patient is a base of modern medicine; nonetheless, a great discrepancy exists between hospitals on the way this information should be administered. This is particularly important when the patient are babies: the information should be given to their parents who should approve or disapprove the treatment. Aim of this study is to assess the adequacy of the information administered to the parents of babies admitted into the Neonatal Intensive Care Units.

Electromagnetic fields in neonatal incubators: the reasons for an alert.

Background: Neonatal incubators are important tools for sick newborns in the first few days of life. Nevertheless, their electric engine, often very close to the newborn's body, emits electromagnetic fields (EMF) to which newborns are exposed. Aim of this paper is to review the available literature on EMF exposure in incubators, and the effects of such exposures on newborns that have been investigated.

Sensorial saturation and neonatal pain: a review.

Aim: Sensorial saturation (SS) is an analgesic approach to babies' pain that includes three types of stimulations: oral sugar, massage and caregivers' voice. The aim of this review is to assess its efficacy.

Methods: We performed an analysis of scientific literature from 2001 to 2017, retrieving those clinical trials where SS had been compared with other analgesic treatments during procedural pain in babies.