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Expressed breast milk for procedural pain in preterm neonates: a randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial
Author(s) -
OuYang MeiChen,
Chen ILun,
Chen ChihCheng,
Chung MeiYung,
Chen FengShun,
Huang HsinChun
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/apa.12045
Subject(s) - medicine , interquartile range , heel , placebo , breast milk , randomized controlled trial , crying , anesthesia , biochemistry , chemistry , alternative medicine , pathology , psychiatry , anatomy
Abstract Aim To determine whether expressed breast milk (milk) reduces procedural pain associated with heel lancing in preterm neonates. Methods In this placebo‐controlled trial, preterm neonates received 5 mL of distilled water as placebo (water, n = 44), 25% glucose water (glucose, n = 39) or milk (n = 40). Heel lancing was performed 2 min later. The primary outcome was the duration of first cry after lancing. Results Participants had similar baseline demographic and clinical characteristics. There was a significant difference in the median duration of first cry among the groups: water = 70.5 sec [interquartile range ( IQR ) = 5.5–104.5]; glucose = 2.0 sec ( IQR = 0.0–45.0); milk = 29.5 sec ( IQR = 0.0–65.0). Specifically, the duration of first cry was significantly shorter in the glucose group compared with the water group ( B onferroni adjustment, p = 0.011). Pain scores were significantly lower in the glucose and milk groups compared with the water group 1, 2 and 3 min after heel lancing (p < 0.05). Conclusions Although milk did not significantly reduce crying time, our finding that pain scores were significantly lower in the milk group suggests that milk may reduce pain associated with heel lancing in preterm neonates.