title: Evidence-based review of oral sucrose administration to decrease the pain response in newborn infants.
abstract: Pain assessment and management are important issues for the neonatal nurse today. Clinicians have gradually come to acknowledge that newborn infants (term and preterm) are capable of responding to painful stimuli. This article reviews the evidence regarding the safety and efficacy of oral sucrose administration, to help answer the clinical question of how to manage an infant's pain response to minor invasive procedures that are everyday occurrences in the NICU. This review included information on 1,077 infants enrolled in 16 studies. The evidence presented in the 16 studies reviewed here shows the safety and efficacy of sucrose in decreasing term infants' pain response to a single procedure. In regard to preterm infants, there is insufficient evidence to recommend the use of sucrose as a routine comfort measure. More research is needed to determine the safety and efficacy of repeated doses of oral sucrose given for multiple procedures in preterm infants.
authors.affiliation: Neonatal intensive care unit, Christiana Care Health Services, Newark, Delaware, USA. khleef@comcast.net
authors.forename: Kathleen H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Leef
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection / Q000009:adverse effects; D002944:Circumcision, Male / Q000009:adverse effects; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D015931:Intensive Care, Neonatal / Q000379:methods; D017283:Neonatal Nursing / Q000379:methods; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D041361:Pacifiers; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D018962:Phlebotomy / Q000009:adverse effects; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012107:Research Design; D012449:Safety; D013391:Sucking Behavior; D013395:Sucrose / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013549:Sweetening Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D013549:Sweetening Agents; D013395:Sucrose