Results of this review support the presence of sensory modulation problems in preterm children .
Sensory modulation problems may play a key role in underst and ing neurocognitive and behavioral sequelae in preterm children .
Some support is found for a dose-response relationship between both white matter brain injury and length of NICU stay and sensory modulation problems
BACKGROUND Neurodevelopmental sequelae in preterm born children are generally considered to result from cerebral white matter damage and noxious effects of environmental factors in the neonatal intensive care unit ( NICU ) .
Cerebral white matter damage is associated with sensory processing problems in terms of registration , integration and modulation .
However , research into sensory processing problems and , in particular , sensory modulation problems , is scarce in preterm children .
AIM This review aims to integrate available evidence on sensory modulation problems in preterm infants and children ( < 37 weeks of gestation ) and their association with neurocognitive and behavioral problems .
Eight Years Later, Are We Still Hurting Newborn Infants?
Objective : To study whether new pharmacological and nonpharmacological guidelines lowered numbers of painful procedures  in neonates and changed the amount and frequency of analgesic therapy as compared to the results of our previous study in 2001 . Design : A prospect i ve observational study . Setting : Level III NICU of the Erasmus MC-Sophia Children 's Hospital , Rotterdam . Participants : Neonates admitted at postnatal ages less than 3 days with length of stay at least 72 h. Main Outcome Measures : Number of all potentially painful procedures and analgesic therapy  recorded at the bedside during the first 14 days of NICU stay . Results : A total number of 21,076 procedures were performed in the 175 neonates studied during 1,730 patient-days ( mean 12.2 ) . The mean number of painful procedures per neonate per day was 11.4 ( SD 5.7 ) , significantly lower than the number of 14.3 ( SD 4.0 ) in 2001 ( p < 0.001 ) . The use of analgesics  was 36.6 % compared to 60.3 % in 2001 . Sixty-three percent of all peripheral arterial line insertions failed versus 37.5 % in 2001 and 9.1 % venipunctures failed versus 21 % in 2001 . Conclusions : The mean number of painful procedures per NICU patient per day declined . Nonpharmacological pain- or stress-reducing strategies like NIDCAP and sucrose were fully embedded in our pain management . As further reduction of the number of painful procedures is unlikely , we should apply more nonpharmacological interventions and explore newer pharmacological agents
Results of this review support the presence of sensory modulation problems in preterm children .
Sensory modulation problems may play a key role in underst and ing neurocognitive and behavioral sequelae in preterm children .
Some support is found for a dose-response relationship between both white matter brain injury and length of NICU stay and sensory modulation problems
BACKGROUND Neurodevelopmental sequelae in preterm born children are generally considered to result from cerebral white matter damage and noxious effects of environmental factors in the neonatal intensive care unit ( NICU ) .
Cerebral white matter damage is associated with sensory processing problems in terms of registration , integration and modulation .
However , research into sensory processing problems and , in particular , sensory modulation problems , is scarce in preterm children .
AIM This review aims to integrate available evidence on sensory modulation problems in preterm infants and children ( < 37 weeks of gestation ) and their association with neurocognitive and behavioral problems .