Pain management in neonates.

Advances in neonatology have established that neonates perceive and memoriz e painful experiences. Objective evaluation of pain severity is the first s tep of pain management and should be adapted to the type of pain (i.e., pro longed or induced). Several pain scales have been developed, and some have been validated. Although many analgesics are available, then use in neonate s is severely limited by the paucity of pharmacokinetic data. Although acet aminophen is the best first-line analgesic in neonates whose pain fails to respond to nonpharmacological measures, opiates are the treatment of choice for pain in neonates.