| Abstract: | Sucrose solution is recommended as relevant pain relief management in neonates duringacute painful procedures; however, only a few studies have analyzed the potentiallyadverse effects of sucrose administration to preterm neonates. The goal of this studywas to examine the potential side effects of sucrose for pain relief in preterminfants, assessing feeding and weight gain during hospitalization and their feedingpatterns postdischarge. The study sample consisted of 43 preterm neonates dividedinto two groups: a sucrose group (SG, n=18) and a control group (CG, n=25) in whichno sucrose was administered. The SG received 0.5 mL/kg 25% oral sucrose for 2 minprior to all acute painful procedures during three consecutive days. A prospectivereview of medical charts was performed for all samples. The study was done prior toimplementation of the institutional sucrose guidelines as a routine service, andfollowed all ethical requirements. There were no statistically significantdifferences between groups in terms of weight gain, length of stay with orogastrictubes, and parenteral feeding. Postdischarge, infant nutritional intake includedfeeding human milk to 67% of the SG and 74% of the CG. There were no statisticallysignificant differences between groups regarding human milk feeding patternspostdischarge. Neonate feeding patterns and weight gain were unaffected following theshort-term use of sucrose for pain relief. |
