Arch Pediat Adol Med
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Arch Pediat Adol Med · Mar 1996
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialSucrose as an analgesic agent for infants during immunization injections.
To assess the effectiveness of sucrose as an analgesic agent during routine immunization injections for infants (age range, 2 weeks to 18 months). ⋯ We found that when infants drank sucrose or sterile water, significantly fewer pain vocalizations were produced, but only for 2-week-old infants. For older infants, differences were found only when the number of injections was included in the analysis. We expand on previous findings by demonstrating that both the age of the child and the number of painful exposures can attenuate calming effects. In addition, the results suggest that in the absence of nonnutritive sucking, the actual analgesic effects of sucrose may be nonspecific. Further study is needed of the possible analgesic effects of sucrose.