Repeated Doses of Sucrose in Infants Continue to Reduce Procedural Pain During Prolonged Hospitalizations

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of oral sucrose in the reduction of single episodes of acute procedural pain in newborn infants has been demonstrated in a large number of well-conducted randomized controlled trials. However, there are few studies that have examined the effectiveness of repeated doses of sucrose and there are no studies of prolonged sucrose use in sick infants over an entire period of hospitalization. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the analgesic effectiveness of repeated doses of oral sucrose during heel lancing in sick infants over the course of a prolonged hospitalization. METHODS: A prospective longitudinal cohort study was conducted in a tertiary referral neona..