The effect of concurrent use of swaddle and sucrose on the intensity of pain during venous blood sampling in neonate: a clinical trial study

Background & objective Infants undergo painful procedures while receiving care and treatment. Blood sampling is the most common painful procedure for infants. Pain control plays a significant role in preventing unwanted physical and psychological effects. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of concurrent use of swaddle and sucrose taste on the pain intensity during venous blood sampling in neonates. Methods In this clinical trial study, 60 infants admitted to the neonatal ward of Amirkola Hospital were randomly divided into four groups of 15 patients. In the first group, the infants were swaddled before blood sampling. In the second group, sucrose was administered to infants. In the third group, the neonates were swaddled and given sucrose simultaneously, and in the fourth group (control), blood sampling was performed routinely. PIPP pain scale and demographic questionnaire were used to collect the data. Data analysis was performed using SPSS23. Results The results showed a significant difference between the mean pain intensity in neonates in the sucrose-swaddle group (4.53 +/- 1.30) and the sucrose (7.73 +/- 2.73), swaddle (9.86 +/- 33.33), and control (12.13 +/- 2.06) groups during blood sampling (P < 0.001). Besides, after blood sampling, there was a significant difference between the mean pain intensity in neonates in the sucrose-swaddle group (4.33 +/- 1.23) and the sucrose (8.13 +/- 2.66), swaddle (7.73 +/- 2.78), and control (10.00. +/- 1.96) groups (P < 0.001). Conclusion The present study showed that pain severity during and after venous blood sampling was lower in the swaddle-sucrose group than in other groups. Therefore, it is recommended that the combined method of swaddle-sucrose be used in infants as a better pain reliever when intravenous blood sampling is performed.