Comparison of sucrose and human milk on pain response in newborns

The aim of this study was to compare the analgesic effect of 2 ml 25% sucro se and human milk in a group of healthy term newborns. Healthy infants (n = 102) were randomly allocated to receive one of three solutions (sucrose, h uman milk: sterile water) 2 min prior to taking a heel prick blood sample. The median values of crying time, recovery time and percentage change in he art rate at 1, 2 and 3 min were recorded in response to the heel prick. Med ian crying times were 36, 52, and 62 s in the sucrose, placebo and human mi lk groups, respectively (P = 0.0009). In the sucrose group, there was a sig nificant reduction in crying time compared to human milk and placebo groups . Similarly, the median recovery time in the sucrose group (72 s) was short er than that in the human milk (112 s) and placebo groups (124 s) (P 0.004) . The percentage change in heart rate at 1, 2 and 3 min was also significan tly lower in the sucrose group (P = 0.008, P = 0.01, P = 0.002 at 1, 2, and 3 min respectively). Conclusion The orosensorial antinociceptive effect of human milk is not as effective as an analgesic as a 25% sucrose solution.