[Evaluation of pain in a neonatal intensive care unit during endocrine-metabolic tests]

To determine whether the pain suffered during the endocrine metabolic test can be lowered by adding skin to skin care to the use of sucrose. To establish factors that may modify the feeling of pain and evaluate the parents opinion during the extraction.

Controlled clinical trial. Two groups: group 1 (n= 27), skin to skin and sucrose, and group 2 (n=27), sucrose. The pain was measured with the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS) during the endocrine metabolic test. Patients on mechanical ventilation, with HIV III or IV and those who had been given sedative analgesics in the previous 24 hours were excluded.

The average gestational age in group 1 was 35.1 +/- 3.5 weeks and 35.4 +/- 3.2 weeks for group 2. The NIPS in group 1 was 2.51 +/- 1.42 and 2.81 +/- 2.11 (NS) in group 2. On only one occasion was severe pain noticed (group 2). There was a tendency towards a higher NIPS with a higher gestational age (r=0.19) and a lower number of previous capillary (r= -0.06) and venous (r= -0.11) extractions. Group 1 parents thought that this practice contributed to decreasing their children's irritability and increased their trust in the care team.

By adding skin to skin care to the sucrose during the endocrine metabolic test does not relieve the pain feeling. Parents in the skin to skin group thought that this practice contributed to decreasing their children's irritability and increased their trust in the care team.