Pediatric research
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Pain is usually assessed by the interpretation of behavior, which can be subjective. Therefore, there is an ongoing search for more objective methods. Performance of skin conductance measurement as a pain assessment tool is variable, as some studies report low specificity and a low predictive value of the method. The aim of this pilot study was to test whether autoregulation of the skin temperature influences the skin conductance of pain-free infants. ⋯ We included 11 infants, median (interquartile range (IQR)) age of 34 (13-76) d, who were admitted to the surgical high-care unit for monitoring after surgery. None was treated with opioids or sedatives, and observational pain scores were low.
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Very early preterm infants (VPIs) are exposed to unpredictable noise in neonatal intensive care units. Their ability to perceive moderate acoustic environmental changes has not been fully investigated. ⋯ In this observational study, we evaluated their differential auditory sensitivity to sound-pressure level (SPL) increments below 70-75 dBA equivalent continuous level in their incubators. Environmental (SPL and audio recording), physiological, cerebral, and behavioral data were prospectively collected over 10 h in 26 VPIs (GA 28 (26-31) wk). SPs emerging from background noise levels were identified and newborns' arousal states at the time of SPs were determined. Changes in parameters were compared over 5-s periods between baseline and the 40 s following the SPs depending on their SNR thresholds above background noise.