Pharmacological Pain Management in Infants Undergoing Painful Procedures

​Infant studies show that infants are not routinely receiving pain control for certain procedures such as circumcisions. A review of evidence and current literature poses the fact that infants feel pain, perhaps even more so than adults, but protocols do not include the requirement of pain control postoperatively, resulting in continuous discomfort and agony of the infant. Current practices are inconsistent with pain medication prescriptions in infants that have undergone distressing procedures. Many procedure protocols involve the requirement of both pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic prescriptions intraoperatively, but not postoperatively. An educational activity was developed where there will be a discussion with key stakeholders in hope to change protocols to require pain management interventions, specifically pharmacological methods, following painful procedures in infants. A synthesis of evidence will be presented along with project status and completion regarding the promotion of more effective pain management techniques.