Abstract

ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND:
Infants including newborn babies, experience pain similarly and probably more intensely than older children and adult. They are also at risk of adverse long term effects on behavior and development, through inadequate attention towards pain relief in early life. However, the issue of analgesia in young babies has been largely neglected in most clinical setting, despite subjecting them to painful diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.
OBJECTIVE:
To assess the knowledge of resident doctors regarding neonatal pain and to compare this with best evidence-based medicine.
SUBJECTS & METHODS:
A survey study questionnaires was distributed to pediatric resident doctors (PRD) in three training hospital centers in Baghdad (A- Al-Kademia teaching Hospital, B- Child central teaching hospital, and C- Children Welfare teaching hospital/ medical city) during the period from first of February to first of May, 2010. The questions were about the doctors` knowledge in treatment of pain in neonates, specifically regarding the perception and the effects of pain, pain assessment tools, and the safety and efficacy of treatments for both procedural and long-term pain.
RESULTS:
This study included 101 PRD, 29 were females and 72 were males. Doctors generally knew about efficacy of skin to skin contact and massage , breast feeding and oral sucrose during short term procedures, benefit and risk of use of morphine and midazolam, but less agreed that sedation does not necessarily provide adequate pain relief into neonates. Doctors were supporting use of topical anesthetic agents but not supporting the benefit of treating long term pain with opioid analgesic outweigh the risk of neonates. About half of PRD knew the difference in long term effect between neonates and older children. Pain assessment tools were not perceived to be reliable ,valid or routinely used.
CONCLUSION:
The knowledge of resident doctors regarding neonatal pain was inadequate when compared with developed countries studies and evidence based medicine, so we recommend to increased the educational programs and training on neonatal pain management