title: [Analgesia when taking heel-lance blood in the newborn].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the pain in healthy newborns requiring blood test by a heel-prick procedure and compare different pain management methods.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 150 term infants, in three randomised groups, from the Maternity Unit of our Hospital for a period of three months. The first group of 50 newborns, received no specific analgesic intervention during blood tests, except our usual nursing intervention ("facilitated tucking"). The second and third group (50 newborns), received non-nutritive sucking-placebo and non-nutritive sucking-24% sucrose respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the control group, the average score on the scale of discomfort was 3.92, moderate pain, causing a crying time of 51.72 seconds; the group receiving a non-nutritive sucking-placeboscored 2.1, slight pain, 10.68 seconds crying, while the group receiving non-nutritive sucking-24 % sucrose, expressed a level of discomfort of 1.5 points, slight, with an average crying time of 10.70 seconds. The comparative results between the control group and groups of non-nutritive sucking on placebo and 24% sucrose, both showed significant differences in the scores of the scale of discomfort, as well as in the time crying (p < 0.001). The comparative analysis between groups of non-nutritive sucking sucrose and placebo showed no significant differences.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The blood test by heel lance represents a painful procedure of moderate intensity capable of analgesic treatment. A proper nursing method, along with a complement of non-nutritive sucking during extraction, significantly decreases the discomfort and crying, it being unnecessary to consider other analgesics.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Pediatría, Sección de Neonatología, Hospital de Basurto, Bilbao, Vizcaya, España. ana.aguirreunceta-barrenechea@osakidetza.net
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aguirre Unceta-Barrenechea
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Saitua Iturriaga
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sainz de Rozas Aparicio
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Riveira Fernández
mesh_terms: D000698:Analgesia / Q000379:methods; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006365:Heel; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology; D059408:Pain Management; D010147:Pain Measurement