Evidence Summary
|
Efficacy
Sucrose is effective for reducing procedural pain from single events such as heel lance, venepuncture and intramuscular injection in both preterm and term infants. Sucrose is not effective in reducing pain from circumcision. The effectiveness of sucrose for reducing pain/stress from other interventions such as arterial puncture, subcutaneous injection, insertion of nasogastric or orogastric tubes, bladder catheterisation, eye examinations and echocardiography examinations are inconclusive. For eye examinations, there is limited evidence that sucrose may confer some pain relief when combined with other pain reducing interventions.1 (LOE I, GOR A). Combined intervention of sucrose and non-nutritive sucking are more effective in providing analgesia than single intervention in term neonates undergoing heel lance.2 (LOE II/GOR B). There were very few studies conducted in extremely preterm infants < 27 weeks gestation. Sucrose is possibly effective in reducing pain from immunisations from 1 to 12 months. (LOE I GOR B) Administration of glucose/sucrose had similar effectiveness as breastfeeding for reducing pain.6 (LOE I GOR B)
Precise sucrose dosing and age parameters are not well defined. There are no published dose limits per day.4
Safety
Sucrose is generally well tolerated with reported adverse effects minor and similar in the sucrose and control groups.1,3 (LOE I, GOR A). Additional research is needed to determine the effect of repeated sucrose administration on pain intensity. There are no long-term studies on neurodevelopmental outcomes. However, Johnston et al observed neurobehavioural changes at term corrected age in infants < 31 weeks post-conceptual age receiving a cumulative dose > 1 mL in 24 hours (LOE II, GOR C).7,8
|
