Neurophysiological assessment of acute pain in infants: a scoping review of research methods.
A systematic scoping search to describe the neurophysiological methods used in infant acute pain assessment research was conducted. Of the 2411 abstracts screened, 19 articles were retained. Nine studies utilised near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), two utilised functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and eight utilised electroencephalography (EEG). There was methodological variability in studies utilising NIRS, whereas EEG and fMRI studies reported consistent methods. Of the eight EEG studies, six identified a nociceptive-specific event-related potential.


CONCLUSIONS
While more methodologically rigorous studies are needed, ERPs appear to hold some promise as indicators of infant nociception during clinical procedures to supplement existing measures.
School of Nursing, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.|Centre for Pediatric Pain Research, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, NS, Canada.|Maternal Newborn Program, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, NS, Canada.
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B
Benoit
School of Nursing, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
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Martin-Misener
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.|Department of Pediatrics, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, NS, Canada.
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A
Newman
School of Nursing, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.|Centre for Pediatric Pain Research, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, NS, Canada.|Department of Pain, Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
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Latimer
School of Nursing, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.|Centre for Pediatric Pain Research, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, NS, Canada.|Maternal Newborn Program, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, NS, Canada.|Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.|Department of Pediatrics, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, NS, Canada.
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Campbell-Yeo
D004569:Electroencephalography; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared
Acute pain; Infant; Neuroimaging; Neurophysiological assessment; Pain assessment