Abstract

In the last few years much attention has been devoted to neonatal analgesia, and in particular nonpharmacological analgesia. We know the effectiveness of oral sucrose administration and non-nutritional sucking and some papers exist on these topics. However, there has not been any review of applications of non-pharmacological analgesia. Here we examine the above two methods and other strategies described in the literature, among which: oral glucose, fructose milk or sweeteners; breastfeeding; cuddling; music; vestibular stimulation; kangaroo care, Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP); sensorial saturation, springloaded lances, supine position, swaddling and facilitated tucking. Seventy-seven studies assessing the efficacy of non-pharmacologic procedures for relieving pain in neonates were identified. It emerges from this review that certain strategies can be combined with oral sucrose and non-nutritional sucking to provide effective and almost complete analgesia for acute pain in neonates.

Keywords: Analgesia, newborn, sucrose, glucose, pain