Oral glucose efficacy on neonate's pain responses at the NICU: A quasi experimental trial of two clinical procedures.

AIM: This research was undertaken with the purpose of testing two research hypotheses regarding the efficacy of 10% oral glucose solution on procedural pain associated with venepuncture and nasopharyngeal suctioning within three neonatal intensive care units (NICU). The hypotheses were formulated from previous conclusions reached by other researchers highlighting the efficacy of sucrose solutions on neonates' pain responses during minor painful procedures.

METHOD: A quasi-experimental trial utilising a time series design with one group was used. Data from a total of 90 neonates included 60 neonates who underwent a venepuncture and 30 neonates who underwent a nasopharyngeal suctioning procedure for clinical purposes. The neonate's pain response for each procedure was scored using the Neonatal Pain Assessment Scale (NPAS) on two separate occasions over three time periods. The pre-procedural score (T0 ) when the neonate received no sucrose, the inter-procedural score (T1 ) when the neonate was given 2ml of 10% glucose solution two minutes before the procedure (intervention group) or where oral glucose was withheld (control group) and the post-procedural score (T2 ) being at the end of the procedure.

RESULTS: The results showed the mean NPAS scores in response to venepuncture or nasopharyngeal suctioning were significantly lower in the intervention group than the control group.

CONCLUSION: This showed that oral glucose (10%) had a positive effect on the pain response during venepuncture and nasopharyngeal suctioning procedures.