Treatment of neonatal pain without a gold standard: the case for caregiving interventions and sucrose administration.

Although many different neonatal pain assessment scales are used in clinical research, no gold-standard instrument exists. The multitude of pain assessment scales used has, in fact, threatened the validity of many studies and confused the construct of pain. This integrative review of the neonatal pain literature provides the recommendations from practice guidelines and the current evidence for modifying the pain response prior to and during common painful procedures.