Paediatric anaesthetists' perceptions of neonatal and infant pain.

A questionnaire was sent to all members of the Association of Paediatric Anaesthetists in the U.K. and Eire, enquiring into their attitudes towards the perception of pain, its assessment and the use of opioids and regional anaesthesia in neonates and infants under 1 year of age. Sixty members returned completed forms out of a total of 66. The results showed that although most anaesthetists in the survey believe that even neonates feel pain, they are reluctant to prescribe analgesia. It was found that the objective signs considered to be most indicative of pain were potentially misleading.