Soft Tissue Therapy in Managing Procedural Pain Among Neonates.

Soft Tissue Therapy in Managing Procedural Pain Among Neonates Admitted in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Single Group, Pretest Posttest Quasi Experimental Study.

Effect of Soft tissue Therapy in managing Procedural Pain among neonates admitted in neonatal intensive care unit. This study focuses on the Procedural pain management with the help of Soft tissue manipulation which includes various techniques like stroking, petrissage manipulations.

Background: Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a specialized unit created for sick and premature newborns. There are various painful procedures through which neonates have to undergo during the NICU stay. The most common procedure is the blood tests for the laboratory investigations which include the heel lancing and venipuncture. Pain is the one of the cause of the development of the acute stress in neonates soft tissue therapy has considered as the major contributory factor of in reducing the procedural pain among neonates admitted NICU. There is no documentation on soft tissue therapy in managing procedural pain in neonates.

Purpose: To determine the effects of soft tissue therapy in managing procedural pain among neonates admitted in NICU.

Methods and materials: The study will recruit neonates who underwent for various painful procedures in NICU such as venous and arterial puncture, capillary puncture, pulmonary mechanical ventilation, tracheal intubation, removal of adhesive tapes, the introduction of various drains etc. Preterm, Term, Full terms Neonates Stable Neonates. The samples will be taken via stratified random sampling technique. Neonates with unstable vitals are to be excluded from the study.

Discussion: To best of our knowledge, this will be the first study determining the effects of soft tissue therapy in procedural pain on neonates admitted in NICU. The role of neonatal physiotherapist in NICU is to provide diagnosis and treatment to admitted newborns. Massage therapy is considered as an effective management technique in pain management. In this study soft tissue therapy will be applied to neonates especially in context with procedural pain. There are various painful procedures performed to check the prognosis of neonates.

Keywords: Neonatal; Newborns; Infant; NICU; Procedural pain; Massage therapy.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Neonates who underwent various painful procedures in NICU such as venous, arterial and capillary puncture, mechanical ventilation for pulmonary causes, tracheal intubation, adhesive tapes removal, insertion of various drains etc.
2. Preterm, Term, Post terms Neonates
3. Stable Neonates.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Post-Surgical cases
2. Parents of Neonates who are not willing to enroll their infant in study.
3. Neonates with congenital anomalies.
4. Neonates with extreme low birth weight.