The use of non-nutritive pacifiers improves the pain response in infants during venous blood collection, according to a study recently published in the Professional Health Journal. This is especially important among vulnerable newborns, such as those with fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAIT), who may require repeated venous blood collections.
Newborn infants who need to undergo various treatments and clinical procedures often experience pain. One of the most common procedures that an infant receiving healthcare for any reason would need to go through is venous blood-taking. While there are pharmacological methods to ameliorate pain, sensory stimulation, such as the use of pacifiers, can be immensely helpful.
The authors of the study sought to investigate whether the non-nutritive sucking of a pacifier can alter an infant’s pain response when undergoing venous blood collection. A total of 152 infants were given non-nutritive sucking for pain relief, while 30 infants were in the control group. The Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS) was used to assess behavioral responses.
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The study found that, compared with male patients, female infants had a better NIPS rate. Furthermore, babies that had a longer gestational age had a better NIPS rate compared with babies who were born prematurely. Other factors that improved NIPS was prior experience of having venous blood drawn, as well as babies who had no difficulty undergoing the procedure.
Using statistical analysis to further analyze the results, it became clear that non-nutritive sucking had a significant effect on the reduction in the NIPS scale among infants who practiced this procedure during venous blood collection.
“The results showed that there was an influence on the pain response of infants given pacifier intervention during venous blood collection in the hospital,” the investigators wrote. “It is hoped that this research can provide input to the hospital as a basis for taking venous blood collection in infants.”
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