title: Laser acupuncture before heel lancing for pain management in healthy term newborns: a randomised controlled trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Healthy term newborns commonly undergo painful procedures during routine follow-up visits. Non-pharmacological strategies have currently become more important than pharmacological analgesic agents in neonatal pain management. Acupuncture is a new non-pharmacological method for preventing pain in newborns.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to investigate the effect of laser acupuncture (LA) at the Yintang point before heel lancing as a non-pharmacological intervention for procedural pain management in infants.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-two term newborns, who were undergoing heel lancing between postnatal days 3 to 8 as part of routine neonatal screening, were randomly assigned to the LA group or the oral sucrose group. In the LA group, 2 min before the heel lancing, 0.3 J of energy was applied to the Yintang point using a Laser PREMIO-30 unit for 30 s. In the sucrose group, each infant received 0.5 mL of 24% sucrose orally via syringe 2 min before the heel lancing. Each baby's behaviour was scored using the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS), assessed blinded to group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no significant differences between the LA and oral sucrose groups with respect to means for gestational week of age at birth, birth weight, actual weight, or Apgar score. Mean procedure time was significantly shorter in the LA group; however, mean crying time was longer and NIPS score was lower compared to the oral sucrose group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate that 0.3 J of LA at the Yintang point before heel lancing is less effective than oral sucrose for reducing the discomfort of this procedure.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  KA14/09.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Başkent University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Aslihan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abbasoglu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Başkent University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet Tugrul
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Cabioglu
authors.affiliation: Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Başkent University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ali Ulas
authors.initials: AU
authors.lastname: Tugcu
authors.affiliation: Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Güven Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ece
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yapakci
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Başkent University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mustafa Agah
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Tekindal
authors.affiliation: Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Başkent University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Aylin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tarcan
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection / Q000379:methods; D006365:Heel; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D053685:Laser Therapy; D059408:Pain Management; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013395:Sucrose / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D013395:Sucrose
keywords: COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE; LASER THERAPY, LOW LEVEL; NEONATOLOGY; PAIN MANAGEMENT