article_snippet.sent: It means that newborns often go without painkillers, even during invasive procedures.
article_snippet.sent: Up until the 1980s the 1980s was common practice for babies to go without pain relief during surgery - babies were given neuromuscular blocks to stop babies moving, but otherwise were given no pain medication.
article_snippet.sent: But injections are still given and intravenous drips still inserted without pain relief, and far more serious procedures carried out anything to take away the child’s pain.
article_snippet.sent: Guidelines for a procedure to treat tongue-tie - a common problem in which the bottom of an infant’s tongue is attached to the mouth - still suggest that no pain relief is needed.
article_snippet.sent: The NHS guidelines, updated in January 2015, advise that when the tongue is sliced from the mouth’s floor, infants do not need medication.
article_snippet.sent: Older babies who have already teethed should be given a general anaesthetic, doctors are told.
article_snippet.sent: ‘In small babies, being cuddled and fed is more important than painkillers.
article_snippet.sent: Thousands of babies across the UK undergo painful procedures every day but there are often no local pain management guidelines to help clinicians,’ she said.
article_snippet.sent: We have to think that if We would provide pain relief for an older child undergoing a procedure then we should look at giving pain relief to an infant undergoing a similar procedure.
article_snippet.sent: Dr Slater said it is not clear which types of painkiller would be best used for babies.
article_snippet.sent: ‘Finding the optimum pain relief for babies is clearly required,’ Dr Slater said.