Presenter: Stefano
Bembich
Affiliation: University
Hospital of Udine, Italy
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation (In-Person)
Title: Sex-related differences in the processing and experience of pain at the
beginning of life
👶 Sex-Related Differences in Pain Perception
at the Beginning of Life
Understanding how newborns
experience pain is an important part of improving neonatal care. Recent
research suggests that male
and female infants may process and respond to pain differently, even during the earliest stages of life.
This study explores these potential differences using both behavioral
observations and neurophysiological measurements.
🧠
Why Study Pain Differences in Newborns?
Pain perception has been widely
studied in adults, where clear sex-related
differences in pain sensitivity and processing have been documented. However, much less
is known about whether these differences exist right from birth.
This study aims to investigate how male and female newborns respond to
pain, providing
insights that could improve pain assessment and management strategies in
neonatal care.
🔬 Study Design and Research Methods
Researchers conducted a secondary analysis of previously
collected data from a
group of 100 healthy full-term
newborns.
👶
Study Participants
·
48
male newborns
·
52
female newborns
Each infant underwent a routine heel-prick procedure, commonly performed for metabolic
screening shortly after birth.
To evaluate pain responses, two
key assessment methods were used:
·
Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS) – to measure behavioral pain responses
·
Near-Infrared
Spectroscopy (NIRS) –
to monitor brain activity associated with pain processing
💊 Pain Relief Methods Tested
Before the heel-prick procedure,
newborns were randomly assigned to one of several non-pharmacological pain relief
interventions,
including:
·
Oral
glucose solution 🍬
·
Expressed
breast milk 🍼
·
Maternal
holding combined with glucose 🤱
·
Breastfeeding
🤱🍼
·
Maternal
holding alone 🤍
These interventions are commonly
used in neonatal units to reduce procedural pain without medications.
📊 Key Findings of the Study
👧 Stronger Behavioral Pain Response in
Female Newborns
The results showed that female infants displayed a more
pronounced behavioral response to pain compared to male infants.
·
This
difference was statistically
significant (p = 0.031).
Interestingly, the difference
became particularly noticeable when breastfeeding was used as a pain-relief intervention, suggesting that sex may influence how
newborns respond to certain analgesic strategies.
🧠 Differences in Brain Activation
The study also revealed distinct neurophysiological differences between male and female infants.
Female newborns demonstrated greater activation of the left
somatosensory cortex
during the heel-prick procedure (p
= 0.029).
When breastfeeding was used as an
analgesic intervention, additional
activation was observed in the right somatosensory cortex (p
= 0.010).
These findings suggest that female infants may process painful
stimuli differently at the brain level, even during the earliest days of life.
💡 What Do These Findings Mean?
The results highlight the
possibility that sex-related
biological differences in pain processing may exist from birth.
Understanding these differences is
important because neonatal pain management strategies are often designed without considering sex as a factor.
Recognizing these variations could
help clinicians develop more
precise and personalized approaches to neonatal pain care.
🏥 Implications for Neonatal Healthcare
The study emphasizes the need to
incorporate sex-specific
considerations into neonatal pain assessment and treatment protocols.
Future neonatal care strategies
may benefit from:
·
Improved
pain assessment tools
·
Tailored
non-pharmacological interventions
·
More
personalized neonatal pain management approaches
Such strategies could help ensure better comfort and care for newborn
infants during medical procedures.
🌱 Moving Toward Personalized Neonatal Pain
Care
This research contributes to the
growing body of evidence supporting sex-specific approaches in medicine, even at the earliest stages of life.
By recognizing and studying these
differences, healthcare providers may be able to develop more effective and individualized pain
management strategies for newborns, ultimately improving neonatal health outcomes.
👩⚕️ About the Speaker
Dr. Stefano Bembich is a
clinical psychologist and researcher. Currently, he works at the University
Hospital of Udine (Italy), in the Mother-Child Department, as clinician. In
collaboration with the Institute for Maternal and Child Health IRCCS “Burlo
Garofolo” of Trieste (Italy), his research activity concerns the application of
cerebral near-infrared spectroscopy, as a functional neuroimaging technique, in
the field of neonatology. He published more than 20 papers on this topic.
🌍 Join the Global Conversation
Event:
International Conference on Pediatrics, Neonatology & Child Health
📅 March
26–28, 2026
📍 Singapore
& Online
🔗 Website: https://pediatrics.miconferences.com/
🔗 Register: https://pediatrics.miconferences.com/register
🔗 Abstract
Submission: https://pediatrics.miconferences.com/abstract-submission
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💬 WhatsApp: +1 (424) 377-0967
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