Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses
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Review Meta Analysis
The impact of Nonpharmacological Interventions on Cortisol During Heel Lance Procedures on Preterm Infants: A Meta-Analysis Of RCTs.
Current research suggests a need to implement environmental, behavioral, and even nutritional interventions, with the objective of improving the comfort and stability of preterm newborn infants, as well as reducing their stress and pain levels. Several studies have used the salivary reactivity of cortisol to assess stress or pain in preterm infants. The aim of this study was to analyze the results of published randomized controlled trials that tested the effects of nonpharmacological interventions on cortisol as a treatment for heel lance pain/stress in preterm infants. ⋯ Future studies should be performed on nonpainful interventions in order to gain more knowledge about the regulation of cortisol in saliva in preterm infants with involving control group and larger sample sizes.