Off-campus South Dakota State University users: To download campus access theses, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your South Dakota State University ID and password.

Non-South Dakota State University users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this thesis through interlibrary loan.

Document Type

Thesis - University Access Only

Award Date

1997

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department / School

Graduate Nursing

First Advisor

Penny Powers

Keywords

circumcision, pain in infants, acetaminophen

Abstract

Pain has been defined as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage" (Lawrence, et al, 1993, p. 59). Infant pain has only recently been acknowledged, raising interest in how to assess and prevent or relieve pain in newborns (Cunningham, 1990). Routine neonatal circumcision is still performed in most centers without the benefit of anesthesia (Schoen & Fischell, 1991). Acetaminophen has a wide safety margin in infancy and has been shown to relieve mild to moderate pain after minor surgery using a dose of 10-15 mg/kg orally (Schoen & Fischell, 1991).
This study compared the administration of acetaminophen to a placebo, when given to normal newborn males before circumcision. The hypothesis was that pain would be significantly reduced during circumcision with the administration of acetaminophen, as demonstrated by behavioral and physiological parameters, when compared to the administration of a placebo.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Circumcision
Pain in infants
Acetaminophen

Format

application/pdf

Number of Pages

38

Publisher

South Dakota State University

Rights

Copyright © 1997 Thieman Kary. All rights reserved

Download

Share

COinS