CONTEXT: Abundant evidence of sweet taste analgesia in neonates exists, yet placebocontrolled trials continue to be conducted. OBJECTIVE:To review all trials evaluating sweet solutions for analgesia in neonates and to conduct cumulative meta-analyses (CMAs) on behavioral pain outcomes. DATA SOURCES:(1) Data from 2 systematic reviews of sweet solutions for newborns; (2) searches ending 2015 of CINAHL, Medline, Embase, and psychINFO. DATA EXTRACTION AND ANALYSIS:Two authors screened studies for inclusion, conducted risk-ofbias ratings, and extracted behavioral outcome data for CMAs. CMA was performed using random effects meta-analysis. RESULTS:One hundred and sixty-eight studies were included; 148 (88%) included placebo/ no-treatment arms. CMA for crying time included 29 trials (1175 infants). From the fifth trial in 2002, there was a statistically significant reduction in mean cry time for sweet solutions compared with placebo (−27 seconds, 95% confidence interval [CI] −51 to −4). By the final trial, CMA was −23 seconds in favor of sweet solutions (95% CI −29 to −18). CMA for pain scores included 50 trials (3341 infants). Results were in favor of sweet solutions from the second trial (0.5, 95% CI −1 to −0.1). Final results showed a standardized mean difference of −0.9 (95% CI −1.1 to −0.7). LIMITATIONS:We were unable to use or obtain data from many studies to include in the CMA. CONCLUSIONS:Evidence of sweet taste analgesia in neonates has existed since the first published trials, yet placebo/no-treatment, controlled trials have continued to be conducted. Future neonatal pain studies need to select more ethically responsible control groups.

Most newborns undergo newborn screening blood tests. Breastfeeding, skin-to-skin care, and sweet solutions effectively reduce pain; however, these strategies are inconsistently used. We conducted a 2-armed pilot randomized controlled trial in a mother-baby unit to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a parent-targeted and -mediated video demonstrating use of these pain-reducing strategies and to obtain preliminary effectiveness data on uptake of pain management. One hundred parent-newborn dyads were randomized to view the video or receive usual care (51 intervention and 49 control arm). Consent and attrition rates were 70% and 1%, respectively. All participants in the intervention arm received the intervention as planned and reported an intention to recommend the video and to use at least 1 pain treatment with breastfeeding or skin-to-skin care preferred over sucrose. In the intervention arm, 60% of newborns received at least 1 pain treatment compared with 67% in the control arm (absolute difference, −7%; 95% confidence interval, −26 to 12). The video was well accepted and feasible to show to parents. As there was no evidence of effect on the use of pain management, major modifications are required before launching a full-scale trial. Effective means to translate evidence-based pain knowledge is warranted.

We conclude, based on the 10 studies included in this review, that breastfeeding may help reduce pain during vaccination for infants beyond the neonatal period. Breastfeeding consistently reduced behavioural responses of cry duration and composite pain scores during and following vaccinations. However, there was no evidence that breastfeeding had an effect on physiological responses. No studies included in this review involved populations of hospitalised infants undergoing other skin-breaking procedures. Although it may be possible to extrapolate the review results to this population, further studies of efficacy, feasibility, and acceptability in this population are warranted.