[Non-drug prevention of pain in neonatal infants].

When treated at a hospital unit, full-term and preterm neonatal infants undergo a large number of manipulations and procedures, most of them are rather painful; anesthesia is used inadequately frequently. Pain prevention during procedures is able to reduce a baby's discomfort and to improve his/her tolerance of medical manipulations and care procedures.

[Characteristics of anesthesia in newborn infants].

The paper describes the specific features of anesthetic maintenance in preterm and full-term neonates, intraoperative monitoring, and the effects of inhaled anesthetics, narcotic analgesics, sedatives, and myorelaxants with emphasis on the anatomic and physiological features of a developing organism.

[Prevention of pain during finger prick in neonatal infants].

Finger pricking for blood sampling is the most common manipulation in hospital units. Pain control using the rating scales for neonatal acute pain and its analgesia are necessary as the consequences of experienced pain are well known. The oral use of glucose solutions substantially relieves pain during this procedure as compared with neonates receiving no analgesics.

[Prevention of pain during manipulations in neonatal infants: analysis of physicians' questionnaire survey].

The paper presents the results of an anonymous questionnaire survey among the physicians of 7 children's health care facilities, who should assess and prevent pain in neonatal infants from 5 Russia's cities (Moscow, Cheboksary, Kursk, Novosibirsk, and Kyzyl). The questionnaire survey has indicated that all responding physicians agree with the statement that a neonate senses pain, but the severity of pain being uncontrolled and the pain syndrome unevaluated, pain analgesia and prevention are inadequately applied by comfort measures, particularly the use of glucose through a nipple, a pacifier, diapering, when procedures are performed. All the physicians are unanimous that analgesics or comfort measures should be more frequently used during any manipulations and procedures irrespective of whether they are performed for a long or short period.