Introduction:

Pain management is a priority in Neonatal Intensive Care Units. There are not antecedents in Cuba of any protocol carried out for management of neonatal pain, apart from the pharmacological treatment during neonatal respiratory assistance or surgery.

Objective:

To determine effectiveness of a protocol for prevention and pain relief in infants with less than 1500 grams, mainly based on recommendations of the Ibero-American Society of Neonatology.

Methods:

A prospective analytical study of before and after was made in 55 infants with less than 1500 grams, who were born in the Teaching Gynecological and Obstetric Provincial Hospital of Matanzas, Cuba, in the period from March,2016 to March, 2018. For the study, the intensity of pain was compared by means of the COMFORTneo scale, which was carried out during the performance of three procedures: umbilical vein catheterization, percutaneous venous catheterization and heel lance; in two patients groups: one before (n=29) and the other after the implementation of the pain protocol (n=26). Spearman coefficient was used for statistical analysis of ordinal qualitative variables. All p< 0.05 values were considered significant.

Results:

The average weight of the studied newborns was 1 180 grams. After implementing the protocol, a significant decrease in pain intensity was observed during the performance of the selected procedures. Non-pharmacological measures were the most used.

Conclusion:

The implemented protocol is effective for decrease pain intensity in newborns with less than 1 500 grams.

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