Sleep as an indicator for pain relief in an infant: a case study.

Sleep was used as an indicator of pain relief for an 8-month-old female infant with meningococcemia who experienced nociceptive input from skin wounds and multiple noxious treatment procedures during her recovery. A sleep activity record documented total hours of sleep, awake/crying, awake/content, and longest hours of sleep after nonanalgesic and analgesic interventions to mediate the infant's pain. Sleep appears to be a useful indicator of the efficacy of pain treatment for infants.