First Infant MRI Scan Reveals Babies Can Feel Pain, More Sensitive Than Adults

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An Oxford University study reveals that the widely-believed notion that babies do not feel pain is not true. The alarming findings show that infants feel more pain than adults during invasive procedures.

Researchers said that with the help of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), they found that babies' brains light up in the same manner by which adults react when exposed to stimulus that causes pain, according to Medical News Today. This new research indicates that pain relief methods should be implemented for infants.

"Thousands of babies across the UK undergo painful procedures every day but there are often no local pain management guidelines to help clinicians. Our study suggests that not only do babies experience pain but they may be more sensitive to it than adults," said lead author Dr. Rebeccah Slater of Oxford's pediatrics department.

"We have to think that if we would provide pain relief for an older child undergoing a procedure then we should look at giving pain relief to an infant undergoing a similar procedure."

It is the first time that MRI was used on babies. Ten infants who were between one to six months where poked with a rod to duplicate the feeling of being poked by a pencil. Their brain scans show that even though the poke was not enough to rouse them from sleep, they felt it four times stronger than adults.

The babies' brain scans were compared to the scans of ten adults who were around 23 to 36 years old, according to Science Times.

The study was published on April 21 in the journal eLife. Fox News reports that it was a common practice for infants to not be given pain relief medication when they undergo surgery. A review of neonatal pain management in intensive care published last year that 60 percent of babies who undergo an average of 11 procedures daily are not administered pain relief medication.

"In fact some people have argued that babies' brains are not developed enough for them to really feel pain. Our study provides the first really strong evidence this is not the case," Slater explained.

"Obviously babies can't tell us about their experience of pain and it is difficult to infer pain from visual observations."

It is not known what kind of painkillers is safe for babies, according to Dr. Slater. Local anesthetics may be too strong for infants and may incur harmful consequences. "Finding the optimum pain relief for babies is clearly required," she said.