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  • Title: [Do neonates and small infants feel pain?].
    Author: Hertel SA.
    Journal: Nord Med; 1995; 110(11):273-4. PubMed ID: 8778674.
    Abstract:
    Infants and even premature neonates, although immature, possess the basic pathways and nociceptors necessary for pain perception. Their responses to painful stimuli are complex, and indicate the presence of central modulating mechanisms. By definition, pain is a subjective experience, but children under the age of three years are unable to communicate their experience. Observer rating systems for pain assessment must take into account the variation in pain expression among infants. In many settings, measurement of different physiological variables are used as indices of pain experience and the effect of intervention. Although the beneficial effect of intervention is well established, it may also have an impact on the possible long-term effects in early childhood. Thorough pain assessment is a prerequisite for successful intervention, and may be improved by introduction of "pain services".
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