Premium
Oral sucrose and non‐nutritive sucking goes some way to reducing pain during retinopathy of prematurity eye examinations
Author(s) -
Dilli Dilek,
İlarslan Nisa Eda Çullas,
Kabataş Emrah Utku,
Zenciroğlu Ayşegül,
Şimşek Yıldız,
Okumuş Nurullah
Publication year - 2014
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.12454
Subject(s) - medicine , retinopathy of prematurity , pacifier , gestational age , eye examination , anesthesia , pediatrics , retinopathy , ophthalmology , pregnancy , breastfeeding , visual acuity , endocrinology , genetics , biology , diabetes mellitus
Aim To evaluate the efficacy of oral sucrose combined with non‐nutritive sucking for reducing pain associated with retinopathy of prematurity screening. Methods This was a randomised controlled study of 64 infants undergoing eye examination for retinopathy of prematurity screening. Topical anaesthetic (Proparacaine; Alcaine ® drop 0.5%: ALCON CANADA Inc., Mississauga, Canada) was applied 30 sec before the eye examination in all infants. The infants in intervention group (Group 1, n = 32) received 0.5 mL/kg of 24% sucrose with a pacifier. The control group (Group 2, n = 32) received 0.5 mL/kg of sterile water with a pacifier. Results The groups had similar gestational ages (28.5 ± 2.8 weeks), mean birthweight (1304 ± 466 g) or corrected gestational age (35.4 ± 3.7 weeks) at examination. The intervention group had a significantly lower mean Premature Infant Pain Profile score during examination of the first eye, following insertion of the speculum (Group 1:13.7 ± 2.1 vs. Group 2:16.4 ± 1.8, p = 0.001). Conclusion Although sucrose combined with non‐nutritive sucking modestly reduces pain scores during eye examinations, there is need to further studies to explore significant pain relief for infants undergoing retinopathy of prematurity screening.