Care of infants after major surgery: observation of behavior and analgesic administration.
To examine pain management in infants after surgery, 12 infants were observed and audiovisually recorded for 24 hours postoperatively following major surgery. Analgesic administration, sleep-awake states, facial expression-vocalization, and care routines were monitored. A clinical pain scoring system (Attia, Amiel-Tison, Mayer, Shnider, & Barrier, 1987) was used to analyze the video tapes. Only 5 infants showed occasional episodes of quiet sleep and were awake for 50% of the observed episodes. Moaning-crying was observed in 56% of the episodes for 4 infants and in 29% of the episodes for 6 infants. Analysis using the pain scoring system showed 36% of the episodes to have scores below 14 (M = 7.7). Results indicated that pain management was inconsistent, care routines need to be changed and better coordinated, and environmental issues must be addressed.
Elander
G
G
Hellström
G
G
Qvarnström
B
B
D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000451:nursing; D013527:Perioperative Nursing; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012890:Sleep; D014743:Videotape Recording
D000700:Analgesics