The Effects of Oral Sucrose for Infant Pain

Infant pain can result in both short-term and long-term adverse effects if left unmonitored. Psychologists dictate that early infant pain if ignored can lead to future psychological problems like sensitivity to stress. Caregivers, therefore, must come up with the appropriate method that will adequately manage pain in infants. Infants admitted to neonatal intensive care unit encounter several painful procedures for example insertions of catheters. Nurses must assess pain in infants and come up with proper pain management strategies. Vulnerable infants kept in neonatal intensive care units receive a considerable amount of interventions that minimize pain during care. It has been measured that they receive on average ten to sixteen intervention a day when hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units NIC. Also, neonates are usually hospitalized in a hostile NIC environment undergoing multiple interventions that result in tissue damage.

Pain has been recognized as a negative sign that should be identified during medical practices. Parents highly expect caregivers to minimize pain on their infants during care. Breast milk and breastfeeding procedures such as providing comfort should frequently be used to relieve pain among infants. Before oral sucrose administration, it is advised that infants should be provided with supportive measures such as swaddling, tucking, and provision of warmth. Clinicians indicate the oral sucrose administration should be provided to infants that are between 0 to 18 months as a pain reliever. Besides the administration of oral sucrose, other pharmacological pain relievers such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen are also used continuously. However, pediatrics reveal that it is essential for parents to console doctors before administration of the drugs.

Some analgesia has been researched to have a lasting impact of up to 18 months of the infant’s life. Procedures that most cause pain among infants includes blood tests, lumbar puncture, bowel washout, VC and line insertion. Oral sucrose is considered as an alternative to strong analgesic and anesthesia. PICO question Infants undergoing painful medical procedures are oral sucrose administration or without effective in decreasing pain? PICO Table P (patient/problem) Infants undergoing painful medical procedures I (intervention/indicator) oral sucrose administration C (comparison) Lack of oral sucrose administration O (outcome) Decrease in pain Keywords used: Oral sucrose, pain management, and infant pain. There are four articles available for consideration, two research, and the remaining two non-research articles. Also, various psychological parameters such as facial expression and crying time were also assessed.

The result of infants who were administered with 25% of sucrose registered lower NIPS compared to neonates that were presented with non-nutritive sucking to relieve their pain (Lima et al. The conclusion of the research, therefore, revealed that the use of 25% of sucrose is more effective in relieving pain among infants. The first non-research article talks about managing pain in infants exposed to intravenous insertions (Lagunas & Hall, 2016). The authors provide an effective strategy that would improve an infant’s pain management during painful procedures. One of the recommended change for the PICO question is that nurses should adopt administration of sucrose in reducing pain among infants. Relieving pain in infants is a must because it is ethical and secondly pain can cause reduced oxygenation, and other health complications that may harm the infant’s development (Suhrabi, 2014).

Research evidence reveals that even short-term pain can cause lasting adverse effects. Pain associated with painful procedures in hospitals are signs of distress and anxiety among infants. Sucrose can be administered on infants’ mouth during painful procedures such as vaccination and during heel and lances procedures. Another recommended practice change in minimizing infant paint during hospitalization is by transformation of nurses’ beliefs, attitudes, and practices. The fact that nurses rarely utilize pain management intervention in the NICUs implies that they have negative attitudes when considering the practice. They must be educated that lack of analgesia when conducting the painful procedure on infants may result in short-term and long-term future complications. The belief that infants do not feel pain should be abandoned, and individuals involved in care should be informed that neonates are more sensitive to pain than adults (Lima et al.

According to research articles, fewer side effects have been documented about the use of sucrose as a pain reliever making it be the most effective analgesia in infants. I would also educate nursed on the importance of considering the best evidence-based pain management intervention on infants and encourage them to consider oral sucrose because of its availability and effectiveness. I would also educate them on how oral sucrose intervention works in minimizing pain on neonates. The third stakeholders to be included in the implementation of oral sucrose in the management of pain in neonates are infants’ parents. They need to be informed that infants are sensitive to pain stimuli more than adults and thus they should abandon the belief that infants do not feel pain.

They also need to be educated on the importance of joint care with health providers in managing pain in infants. Another strategy is by nonnutritive sucking using the pacifier. Individuals have different beliefs as to why their preferred means is superior to the other. Such debate on the safest and effective strategy of oral sucrose administration make it difficult for it to be implemented in NICUs. Cultural values and beliefs might also influence in applying evidence to practice changes. Beliefs such as infants do not experience pain and attitudes of healthcare providers towards oral sucrose administration may affect applying evidence to practice in the NICUs. This is because despite the different means of administering the result of both methods is that oral sucrose will be used to minimize pain in infants.

Conducting much research on the effect of oral sucrose in minimizing pain on infants would help develop enough evidence to support the application of the intervention in NICUs. One of the indicators to measure the outcome of oral sucrose for the treatment of pain in infants is through the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale NIPS. It works by measuring the intensity of behaviors that nurses consider to reflect signs of distress such as crying and facial expressions (Stevens et al. It comprises six indicators which have scores of 0 to 1. doi: 10. 1016/j. ijnurstu. 006 Lagunas, A. , & Hall, H. , Carvalho, J. , & Ribeiro, M. Glucose solution is more effective in relieving pain in neonates than non-nutritive sucking: A randomized clinical trial.  European Journal Of Pain, 21(1), 159-165.