Oral Glucose and Listening to Lullaby to Decrease Pain in Preterm Infants Supported with NCPAP: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Background: Preterm infants spend the early days of their lives in neonatal intensive care units, where they undergo many minor painful procedures. There are many nonpharmacologic methods that can effectively reduce the pain response of neonates who undergo routine procedures.

Aims: This study aimed to investigate whether oral glucose and listening to lullabies could bring pain relief during the removal and reinsertion of the tracheal tube and also oronasopharyngeal suctioning in premature infants to whom nasal continuous positive airway pressure was applied.

Design: A double-blind, randomized controlled trial.

Setting: This study was conducted in the neonatal intensive care unit in the tertiary setting between November 2012 and September 2013.

Participants/subjects: A total of 106 preterm infants were divided into three groups, including 37 infants in the control group, 35 infants in the lullaby group, and 34 infants in the glucose group.

Methods: All preterm infants were randomly assigned to either the intervention groups or the control group. Pain responses were assessed using the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale and the Premature Infant Pain Profile.

Results: An assessment of the pain severity of the preterm infants after the intervention indicated that the preterm infants in the lullaby and glucose groups had lower pain, whereas the preterm infants in the control group experienced more pain (p < .05).

Conclusion: The findings suggest that pain could be reduced significantly in preterm infants after the suggested intervention, although further studies are required to identify the benefits of lullabies or glucose in infants during other painful procedures.