Long-term Pain Response of Circumcised Neonatal Males

Abstract

Our research question is as follows; “in neonatal males, does not using local anesthesia with circumcision cause long term pain sensitivity that can be seen in toddler vaccinations? The purpose of this research topic was to determine if pain experienced in neonatal males have long-term effects on their pain sensitivity. For our research methods, we used ProQuest and Cinahl to find journals and articles related to our topic. Most of the studies showed that pain in neonatal males may have long lasting effects on future infant behaviors, such as routine vaccinations. Researchers compared pain responses during routine vaccinations of neonatal males that were circumcised with topical EMLA cream and those circumcised with a placebo. They found that the pain response was worse in those circumcised with the placebo than with those circumcised with the topical EMLA cream. Researchers recommend that there be some form of local or general pain management used during any painful procedure such as circumcisions.

Key Words: neonatal, pain, circumcision, vaccination, male, long-term effects, local anesthesia