Animal models of long-term consequences of early exposure to repetitive pain.

Although animal models will never match the complexity of human systems, a number of basic mechanisms can be accessed only by using animal models. Results from studies using animal models of pain can give insight into basic mechanisms underlying long-term consequences of pain and provide sufficient data to generate hypotheses to be tested in human infants. Interaction between clinicians and basic scientists, with an understanding of the domain in which each group is working, is critical to the meshing of efforts from these domains. With collaboration between these groups, more relevant research can be conducted that can lead to the decrease in pain and its consequences in neonates.