Premature babies oversensitive to pain

BEIJING, A new study published in the journal NeuroImage has found that premature babies become oversensitive to pain due to the intensive-care treatments that they receive after birth, media reported Tuesday.

The research was conducted by measuring the brain activity of babies with an electroencephalogram (EEG) while they underwent routine heel lancing to draw blood samples.

Stronger brain activity was seen for premature infants who had been in hospital for at least 40 days, compared to healthy babies of the same age.

According to the study, the increased sensitivity could persist in the long term, making the infants more sensitive to pain throughout life.

Rebeccah Slater, who led the research, said: "Our study shows that being born prematurely and undergoing intensive care affects pain processing in the infant brain.

"These observations may underlie the differences in pain sensitivity reported in older ex-preterm children.

"Our ability to measures brain responses to painful events will lead to a better and more informed approach to the administration of analgesia, and enable us to define optimal ways of providing pain relief in this vulnerable population."

It is suggested by the researchers that pain-relief should be given to premature babies under intensive care to prevent the treatments they receive increasing their sensitivity to pain.