Methods: Sucrose for Neonatal Pain Management P arent / Caregiver Information Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Do infants feel pain? Sucrose is a method of pain relief that can be used for children during minor painful procedures. Therefore, it is important to ensure pain management Oral sucrose is frequently given to relieve procedural pain in neonates on the basis of its effect on behavioural and physiological pain scores. Sucrose reduces composite pain scores by approximately 20% and is most effective when combined with other strategies . More research is needed to better understand the effects of sucrose use for analgesia,” Keels says. 3. The prevention of pain in neonates should be the goal of all caregivers because painful exposures have the potential for deleterious consequences. 4. What is sucrose? Objectives: Oral sucrose is commonly used to provide analgesia to neonates during painful procedures, such as venepuncture. Protocol for the use of sucrose solution for procedural pain management Sucrose Reduces distress associated with painful procedures in babies < 3 months of age Is safe, and easily administered. Simple physical strategies such as non-nutritive sucking (i.e., pacifier use) and rocking or holding an infant can also lower pain and distress [ 36 ] . Those neonates at greatest risk for neurodevelopmental impairment due to preterm birth (eg, the smallest and sickest) are also most likely to be exposed to the greatest number of painful stimuli in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). 2006. Oral sucrose should be included in paediatric emergency department pain management guidelines as one of the possible strategies to utilise for infants during minor painful procedures. How much Babies do feel pain. Practice is benchmarked annually and action plans are formulated in response to the findings. Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of oral sucrose versus breastfeeding as methods of pain management during immunization of infants through 6 months of age. In 2001, the American Academy of Pediatrics proposed guidelines for prevention and treatment of neonatal pain, in which nonpharmacological interventions, such as sucrose, NNS, and skin-to-skin contact were recommended in minor painful procedures. Awareness of sucrose for procedural pain was lower than breastfeeding at 79%, with 53% reporting that they used sucrose in their unit. 1) and includes non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic modalities (see Table 2).The foundational basis for optimizing pain management in the neonatal population is aimed at reducing the total number of painful events []. The sucrose solution used in this study was made up by the pharmacy department at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia, by diluting Syrup BP, which contains 66.7 g of sucrose/100 g. This solution was interpreted by the pharmacy department as containing 66.7 g of sucrose/100 mL. A sweet solution, such as sucrose or glucose, can be used for analgesia for minor short term procedural pain, such as immunisation, in infants up to 12 months of age. “When sucrose is used as a pain management strategy, it should be prescribed and tracked as a medication. For example, sucrose is frequently used for the management of acute post-procedural pain in newborn and young infants, yet the mechanism of sucrose-induced analgesia remains unknown [7, 8]. That rant already exists on this blog.It was also the subject of my talk at the final SMACC conference, which is now online.Another blog post is probably unnecessary, but neither resource included the references from my literature review, so for those who are interested, these are my extended notes on the subject. Finding pain-mitigating interventions that are low-cost, effective, and feasible across all settings, including with low-resourced settings could improve primary healthcare. Chapter 3: Oral sucrose for procedural pain Valid until 1st February 2022 3 management in infants. Sucrose may be inadequate for painful procedures lasting longer than this and alternative analgesia should be considered. That seems weird. Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics cautioned use of sucrose for infant pain management until appropriate dose, mechanisms of action, and long-term effects of this treatment are addressed; sucrose should be viewed as a prescribed medication that must be tracked (Committee on Fetus and Newborn and Section on Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, 2016). Sucrose is safe and effective at reducing pain during procedures, such as heal lance. The sweet solution is given orally and provides short term analgesia. and the International Evidence-Based Group for Neonatal Pain, (2001). Neonatal pain is best managed using a multi-directional approach which can be conceptualized in a tiered manner (see Fig. Breastfeeding is preferable when available as parent contact, especially skin to skin provides comfort. Oral sucrose will not always eliminate all crying, but is known to significantly reduce the physiological stress of pain. enhances parental understanding of pain perception and management for neonates. Use sucrose up to 8 doses in a 24 hours period. Introduction Pain is a subjective experience as described in the formal definition: "An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage” (www.iasp-pain.org). Sydney: Paediatrics & Child Health Division, The Royal Australasian College of Physicians; 2005. The additional benefits of reducing pain during venepuncture when oral sucrose is combined with nonpharmacological strategies have not been extensively studied. They are repeatedly administered to almost all children throughout infancy, childhood and adolescence. Sucrose (oral) for procedural pain management in infants; Best Practice Clinical Guideline, Assessment and Management of Neonatal Pain - … Indications for use Any procedural pain: heel stick, blood procurement, venepuncture, intravenous line insertion, dressing changes, adhesive tape removal, immunisations, suture removal, urinary catheter insertion, nasogastric tube insertion, etc. There is a large body of evidence demonstrating the analgesic efficacy of oral sucrose during minor painful procedures in young infants. Overall, 89% of the respondents reported that either breastfeeding or sucrose was used for the management of procedural pain in their units. A prescription of sucrose is available to all eligible babies within the neonatal unit and documentation of appropriate use of sucrose prior to painful procedures. Among the non-pharmacological measures for pain control, the most commonly used were breast milk ad libitum during the procedure , sucrose solution (24–25% sucrose) [22, 30,31,32], dextrose solution (50% dextrose) , non-nutritive sucking (NNS) provided in the form of a gloved finger , and audio-stimulation with music (lullabies or repetitive rhythms) . Clin J Pain … Pain left unrelieved has been found to lead to long-term consequences such as distress, anxiety, needle fear, parental non-adherence with vaccination administration, and avoidance of medical care. Oral sucrose for pain management 73 dence has arisen from trials including neonates only, the use of sucrose in settings outside the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), such as paediatric ED settings, has not been widely practiced. We assessed whether sucrose administration reduces pain-specific brain and spinal cord activity after an acute noxious procedure in newborn infants. Sucrose is safe and effective for reducing procedural pain from single events. Despite this evidence, sucrose is not utilized in many settings for management of acute procedural pain (Harrison, D., et al. The idea of using sucrose to control pain has always sort of bothered me. There is a 2- minute peak effectiveness following administration which will provide short term pain management. Breastfeeding, sucrose and EBM for procedural pain management. An optimal dose could not be identified due to inconsistency in effective sucrose dosage among studies.Further investigation on repeated administration of sucrose in neonates and the use of sucrose in combination with oth … The administration of sucrose with and without non-nutritive sucking (NNS) has been examined for relieving procedural pain in newborn infants. Pharmacological pain management can be difficult because of the medication side effects that can occur with these tiny humans, thus nonpharmacological pain management has become the ideal. Pain Management Page 4 of 4 Appendix A DOSING CHART Administer sucrose 2 minutes prior to start of procedure Repeat every few minutes to a maximum of 3 doses per procedure Infants subjected to 6 or more procedures/day should be reviewed for more appropriate pain management before further doses are administered. Consensus statement for the prevention and management of pain in the newborn. Administered orally for relief of pain caused by minor procedures without a physician’s order to infants up to 12 months of age. Glucose is also effective in decreasing pain responses, with 20% to 30% glucose solutions reducing pain scores and crying. Consistent management of repeated procedural pain with sucrose in preterm neonates: Is it effective and safe for repeated use over time? Stevens B, Yamada J, Beyene J, et al. Rebeccah Slater and colleagues (Oct 9, p 1225)1 question the benefit of sucrose for alleviating procedural pain in infants. The aim of this paper is therefore to review sucrose efficacy beyond the neonatal period to Currently, vaccine injections are considered to be the most common source of iatrogenic pain in childhood. If a patient has more than 8 procedures in that time frame consider other methods of pain management. Pain and Sedation Assessment and Management in Newborns Page 5 OF 9 9.2 Anand, K.J.S. We would never offer sucrose to an adult in pain, but in infants it is apparently a wonder drug. In my personal experience, I would definitely say that the use of oral sucrose helps to alleviate pain during these procedures and is a great alternative to pharmacological interventions. Because newborns are actually very sensitive to pain, pain management has been stated as a significant part of health care in newborns. Guideline statement: Management of procedure-related pain in neonates. Guideline: Sucrose: Management of short duration Procedural Pain in Infants Date of Publishing: 30 April 2018 12:55 PM Date of Printing: Page 2 of 8 K:\CHW P&P\ePolicy\Apr 18\Sucrose - Management of Short Duration Procedural Pain in Infants.docx We believe that they might have overstated their conclusions and suggest a more cautious interpretation of the study findings. The effect may be prolonged by administering 2 or three repeat doses at 2 minute intervals during the procedure. If a baby is premature, the pain response may affect other immature body systems such as heart rate, alertness (neurological status), kidney function and other systems. NICU Patients (Mokhnach et al, 2010) Sucrose is not a pain medication. It requires us to believe that infants are fundamentally different; to really believe that children are not just small adults. 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