Pediatric research
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Accurate assessments of pain in hospitalized preterm infants present a major challenge in improving the short- and long-term consequences associated with painful experiences. We evaluated the ability of the newborn infant parasympathetic evaluation (NIPE) index to detect acute procedural pain in preterm infants. ⋯ Exposure to repetitive pain can lead to neurodevelopmental sequelae. Behavior-based pain scales have limited clinical utility, especially for preterm infants. New devices for monitoring physiological responses to pain have not been validated sufficiently in preterm infants. This study found that the NIPE index was not significantly correlated to the validated PIPP-R scale during acute procedural pain. Secondary analysis of this study showed that NIPE index and SCRs may help to exclude severe pain in preterm infants. In clinical practice, measurements of physiological parameters should be combined with behavior-based scales for multidimensional pain assessments.