Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Pain Research and Management
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Facial expression is widely used to judge pain in neonates. However, little is known about the relationship between intensity of the painful stimulus and the nature of the expression in term neonates.
OBJECTIVES
To describe differences in the movement of key facial areas between two groups of term neonates experiencing painful stimuli of different intensities.
METHODS
Video recordings from two previous studies were used to select study subjects. Four term neonates undergoing circumcision without analge-sia were compared with four similar male term neonates undergoing a routine heel stick. Facial movements were measured with a computer using a previ-ously developed ‘point-pair’ system that focuses on movement in areas impli-cated in neonatal pain expression. Measurements were expressed in pixels, standardized to percentage of individual infant face width.
RESULTS
Point pairs measuring eyebrow and eye movement were simi-lar, as was the sum of change across the face (41.15 in the circumcision group versus 40.33 in the heel stick group). Point pair 4 (horizontal change of the mouth) was higher for the heel stick group at 9.09 versus 3.93 for the circumcision group, while point pair 5 (vertical change of the mouth) was higher for the circumcision group (23.32) than for the heel stick group (15.53).
CONCLUSION
Little difference was noted in eye and eyebrow movement between pain intensities. The mouth opened wider (vertically) in neonates experiencing the higher pain stimulus. Qualitative differences in neonatal facial expression to pain intensity may exist, and the mouth may be an area in which to detect them. Further study of the generalizability of these findings is needed.
Pages
10-12
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DOI
https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/873103
Volume
16
Publication Date
2011
Keywords
Computer measurement, Facial expression, Neonatal pain, Point-pair method, Primal face of pain
Disciplines
Maternal, Child Health and Neonatal Nursing | Nursing
ISSN
1203-6765
Recommended Citation
Schiavenato, Martin, Butler-O’Hara, Meggan, Scovanner, Paul, Exploring the Association Between Pain Intensity and Facial Display in Term Newborns, Pain Research and Management, 16, 873103, 3 pages, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/873103
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