title: Echocardiography may cause significant pain response in preterm infants.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study is to evaluate if echocardiographic examination causes any pain response in term and preterm infants.
  
  
  METHODS
  Term and preterm neonates who admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Gazi University Hospital and Etlik Zubeyde Hanim Training and Research Hospital and were performed echocardiography for any reason were included into the study. Neonates were evaluated before, during and 10 minutes after the examination. Vital signs (heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, transcutaneous oxygen saturation) were recorded. All subjects were also evaluated with Neonatal Infant Pain Scale during the examination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, we evaluated 99 newborn infants. Five infants who received fentanyl treatment were excluded. The heart rate (p = 0.000), respiratory rate (p = 0.000), diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.001) and oxygen saturation (p = 0.000) during the examination were significantly different than the values before and 10 minutes after the examination. Infants whose gestational age ≤32 weeks (n:20) have significantly higher NIPS scores (mean ± SEM = 3.3 ± 0.4) than the infants whose gestational age is greater than 32 weeks (n:71) (mean ± SEM = 2.4 ± 0.2).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Echocardiographic examination which is known as noninvasive and painless causes significant pain in preterm infants.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology , Gazi University Hospital , Ankara , Turkey.
authors.forename: Selma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aktas
authors.affiliation: b Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology , Etlik Zübeyde Hanım Research and Training Hospital , Ankara , Turkey.
authors.forename: Dilek
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ulubas
authors.affiliation: c Department of Pediatrics, Division of Cardiology , Gazi University Hospital , Ankara , Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gumustas
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology , Gazi University Hospital , Ankara , Turkey.
authors.forename: Ibrahim Murat
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Hirfanoglu
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology , Gazi University Hospital , Ankara , Turkey.
authors.forename: Canan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Turkyilmaz
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology , Gazi University Hospital , Ankara , Turkey.
authors.forename: Ebru
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ergenekon
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology , Gazi University Hospital , Ankara , Turkey.
authors.forename: Esin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Koc
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology , Gazi University Hospital , Ankara , Turkey.
authors.forename: Yildiz
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Atalay
authors.affiliation: b Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology , Etlik Zübeyde Hanım Research and Training Hospital , Ankara , Turkey.
authors.forename: Nihal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Demirel
authors.affiliation: b Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology , Etlik Zübeyde Hanım Research and Training Hospital , Ankara , Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet Yagmur
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Bas
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology , Gazi University Hospital , Ankara , Turkey.
authors.forename: Eray Esra
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Onal
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D010147:Pain Measurement; D000073818:Procedural Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies
keywords: Echocardiography examination; NIPS pain scale; newborn; pain