| Title | Heart rate variability in response to pain stimulus in VLBW infants followed longitudinally during NICU stay. | ||
| Author | Padhye, Nikhil S; Williams, Amber L; Khattak, Asif Z; Lasky, Robert E | ||
| Journal | Dev Psychobiol | Publication Year/Month | 2009-Dec |
| PMID | 19739134 | PMCID | PMC2936240 |
| Affiliation | 1.Center for Nursing Research The University of Texas School of Nursing at Houston, 6901 Bertner Avenue Ste. 560, P.O. Box 20334 Houston, TX 77225-0334, USA. nikhil.s.padhye@uth.tmc.edu. | ||
The objective of this longitudinal study, conducted in a neonatal intensive care unit, was to characterize the response to pain of high-risk very low birth weight infants (<1,500 g) from 23 to 38 weeks post-menstrual age (PMA) by measuring heart rate variability (HRV). Heart period data were recorded before, during, and after a heel lanced or wrist venipunctured blood draw for routine clinical evaluation. Pain response to the blood draw procedure and age-related changes of HRV in low-frequency and high-frequency bands were modeled with linear mixed-effects models. HRV in both bands decreased during pain, followed by a recovery to near-baseline levels. Venipuncture and mechanical ventilation were factors that attenuated the HRV response to pain. HRV at the baseline increased with post-menstrual age but the growth rate of high-frequency power was reduced in mechanically ventilated infants. There was some evidence that low-frequency HRV response to pain improved with advancing PMA.