Effectiveness of oral sucrose in pain relieve at different stages of venipuncture in preterm infants

• Main Authors: Maryam Keshavarz, Zahra Amirkhanzadeh Barandouzi, Hassan Ashayer, Ali Montazeri
• Format: Article
• Language: fas
• Published: Iranian Institute for Health Sciences Research 2015-12-01
• Series: Payesh
• Subjects: sucrose; pain; preterm infant; venipuncture
• Online Access: http://payeshjournal.ir/article-1-209-en.html
• ISSN: 1680-7626; 2008-4536

Objective (s): Painful procedures such as venipuncture that are performed repeatedly on preterm infants in NICU has been proposed as one of the factors that may contribute to altered development of cognition, motor function and behavior in infants born preterm. Therefore it has been suggested that pain management in infants is necessary. This study assessed the effect of sucrose on pain reduction at different stages of venipuncture. Methods: In this clinical trial and double blind study 64 premature infants aged 35-32 weeks hospitalized in intensive care randomly assigned into two groups (sucrose group) and control group. In both groups ten minutes before starting the intervention until ten minutes after the ending of venipuncture simultaneously was filmed from infants` face and monitored by using two video cameras. In the experimental group, 2 minutes before blood sampling, 0.5 ml oral sucrose solution 24% with syringe was administered on the anterior portion of tongue and for the infant in control group, 0.5 ml strill water was given to infants. The Premature Infant Pain Profile was used for pain evaluation. Average pain scores before venipuncture, during blood sampling, immediately after removing needle and ten minutes after blood sampling was calculated. Results: The mean pain scores in both groups during blood sampling and immediately after removing needle in comparison with before blood sampling decreased significantly (P<0.001). The mean pain score during blood sample in the sucrose group was significantly lower than the mean pain score of the control group (p<0.001). In both groups mean pain score ten minutes after venipuncture returned to the baseline. Conclusion: Oral sucrose was effective on pain reduction at different stages of venipuncture in preterm infants. This non-pharmacological method is recommended for pain relieve in minor painful interventions in infants hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units.