Postoperative Pain in Infants

Exposure to pain in the neonatal period is associated with adverse short- and long-term outcomes, including altered neurodevelopment. Accurate pain assessment is therefore essential but remains challenging due to the lack of a gold standard.

Currently, pain assessment in neonates relies on observational tools such as N-PASS, which incorporates behavioral and physiological indicators. However, these assessments are intermittent and subject to observer variability.

Skin conductance monitoring is an objective and continuous method that measures sympathetic nervous system activity through electrodermal responses. Previous research has demonstrated that skin conductance can detect stress and pain responses even in extremely preterm infants.

In this study, postoperative neonates admitted to the NICU will be continuously monitored using skin conductance for approximately 72-80 hours following surgery. Routine clinical pain assessments using N-PASS will be performed at regular intervals, alongside continuous monitoring of vital parameters.

Additional clinical data will be collected from electronic medical records, including demographic characteristics, perinatal history, surgical details, postoperative recovery parameters, and analgesic treatments.

The study is purely observational, and no interventions beyond standard clinical care will be introduced.

Inclusion criteria

• Neonates admitted to the NICU
• Undergoing surgical intervention
• Receiving postoperative care at the study site

Exclusion criteria

• Major heart surgery
• No parental consent