Procedural Pain in Neonates: Is Oral Sucrose Effective Analgesia?

To determine whether oral sucrose relieves procedural pain in neonates, investigators from the United Kingdom conducted a double-blind, randomized, controlled study in which healthy full-term newborn infants received either 0.5 ml of sterile water or 0.5 ml of 24% sucrose two minutes prior to a clinically required heel lance. All of the neonates were awake and had not been fed for at least 30 minutes at the time of the procedure. The primary study outcome was nociceptive (pain)-specific brain evoked response measured by 32-electrode electroencephalography (EEG). Electromyographic (EMG) activity was recorded in the ipsilateral biceps femoris muscle to assess the intensity of spinal reflex limb withdrawal activity from the painful stimulus and time to muscle …