ArticleBMC medicine2023
Experience of early-life pain in premature infants is associated with atypical cerebellar development and later neurodevelopmental deficits.
Article in BMC medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Effect of Auricular Massage on Naso-Oral Suctioning Procedural Pain in Premature Neonates: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Study.TheScientificWorldJournal · 2025Trial
- Neonatal vascular access: management of pain and distress during vascular access device placement.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Sweeter recovery, less intravenous fluids: a NICU quality improvement initiative for managing neonatal hypoglycemia.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026Article
- Reconsidering transcutaneous bilirubinometry for management of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia: is it time for change?Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026Review
- Neonatal neurobehavior: a tale of two scales contrasting the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale with the NeoNatal Neurobehavioral Scale.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Intranasal fentanyl to reduce pain intensity associated with retinopathy of prematurity screening in preterm infants: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.BMC pediatrics · 2026Article
- Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial of Multisensory Early Oral Administration of Human Milk (M-MILK) for Very Preterm Infants: Enhancing Stress Regulation, Neurodevelopment, and Oral Feeding Skills.Biological research for nursing · 2026Article
- Donor human milk and structural brain development in very preterm infants.Pediatric research · 2026Observational
- A Factor Analysis of the COMFORTneo Scale: What Are We Measuring?Paediatric & neonatal pain · 2026Article
- Towards improving outcomes: Protein, body composition, and brain development in preterm infants.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Functional Connectivity of the Neonatal Cerebellum is Impacted by Sex and Polygenic Liability for Autism.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Insertion technologies for neonatal venous access: a scoping review.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026Review
- A cross-sectional study on the growth and development of preterm infants during the first year of life in Tibet's Lhasa Region.Medicine · 2026Article
- Disrupted Brain Connectivity in Newborns Following Antenatal Opioid Exposure.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2026Observational
- Functional network organization is locally atypical in children, adolescents, and young adults with congenital heart disease.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2026Article
- Opioid exposure on the preterm brain: qualitative and quantitative MRI analysis.Intensive care medicine. Paediatric and neonatal · 2026Article
- Burden of "Pokes" in Newborns With Hypoglycemia Who Require IV Dextrose.Hospital pediatrics · 2025Article
- Beyond motor learning: Insights from infant magnetic resonance imaging on the critical role of the cerebellum in behavioral development.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2025Review
- Neonatal Sucrose and Internalizing Behaviors at 18 Months in Children Born Very Preterm.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Cerebellar Development and the Burden of Prematurity.Cerebellum (London, England) · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundInfants born very and extremely premature (V/EPT) are at a significantly elevated risk for neurodevelopmental disorders and delays even in the absence of structural brain injuries. These risks may be due to earlier-than-typical exposure to the extrauterine environment, and its bright lights, loud noises, and exposures to painful procedures. Given the relative underdeveloped pain modulatory responses in these infants, frequent pain exposures may confer risk for later deficits.
methodsResting-state fMRI scans were collected at term equivalent age from 148 (45% male) infants born V/EPT and 99 infants (56% male) born at term age. Functional connectivity analyses were performed between functional regions correlating connectivity to the number of painful skin break procedures in the NICU, including heel lances, venipunctures, and IV placements. Subsequently, preterm infants returned at 18 months, for neurodevelopmental follow-up and completed assessments for autism risk and general neurodevelopment.
resultsWe observed that V/EPT infants exhibit pronounced hyperconnectivity within the cerebellum and between the cerebellum and both limbic and paralimbic regions correlating with the number of skin break procedures. Moreover, skin breaks were strongly associated with autism risk, motor, and language scores at 18 months. Subsample analyses revealed that the same cerebellar connections strongly correlating with breaks at term age were associated with language dysfunction at 18 months.
conclusionsThese results have significant implications for the clinical care of preterm infants undergoing painful exposures during routine NICU care, which typically occurs without anesthesia. Repeated pain exposures appear to have an increasingly detrimental effect on brain development during a critical period, and effects continue to be seen even 18 months later.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.