Nonpharmacological management of pain during common needle puncture procedures in infants: current research evidence

Carol McNair1, Marsha Campbell Yeo, Celeste Johnston

  • 1Nursing, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Clinics in Perinatology
|August 27, 2013
PubMed

All infants undergo painful procedures involving skin puncture as part of routine medical care. Pain from needle puncture procedures is suboptimally managed. Numerous nonpharmacologic interventions are available for these painful procedures, including swaddling, holding, skin-to-skin care, pacifier, sweet-tasting solutions, and breast-feeding. Adoption of nonpharmacologic pain-relieving interventions into routine clinical practice is feasible and should be a standard of care in the delivery of quality health care for infants. This review summarizes current knowledge about the epidemiology of pain from common needle puncture procedures in infants, the effectiveness of nonpharmacologic interventions, implementation considerations, and unanswered questions for future research.

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