The Effect of Kangaroo Care on Behavioral Responses to Pain of an Intramuscular Injection in Neonates

Abstract

KC given before injection seems to effectively decrease pain and should be considered for minor invasive procedures in neonates.

Minimizing pain during childhood vaccination injections: improving adherence to vaccination schedules

“…No significant decrease in pain (P,0.57) was associated with parent-led tactile distraction. 30 In contrast, Kashaninia et al 31 found, in results from the neonatal infant pain scale (NIPS), significantly lower pain associated with vaccination (P,0.001) when a mother held her infant skin-to-skin with gentle pressure on the back before and during the injection.…”

“…44 Three studies investigated the influence of positioning on vaccination pain (see Table 3). Kashaninia et al 31 investigated a developmentally appropriate positioning known as Kangaroo-Care (KC) on vaccination related pain. KC requires the infant, wearing only a diaper, be placed on the bare skin of a parent.…”

“…In fact, 36/50 or 72% of the infants who had KC during the vaccination did not cry at all during the procedure. 31 Ipp et al 44 also investigated the mother holding her infant during the vaccination versus having the infant lie on the examination table during the vaccination. The participants in the study were 2-6 months old.…”

Clustered Pain Procedures in Skin-to-Skin Contact (SSC) Position for Full Term Newborns

“…Sources of repeated pain in the neonatal period are the invasive procedures needed to obtain bilirubin and glucose samples, testing blood for phenylketonuria, and administration of Vitamin K and Hepatitis B injections prior to discharge in healthy full term newborns. SSC has been confirmed as an effective non-pharmacologic pain reduction intervention when provided by the mother or father [13] [14], and when given alone [15] [16] [17] or in combination with breastfeeding [18], sucrose [19], and rocking [20]. SSC relieves pain from heel-stick [21] [22] [23], injection [15] [16] [24], or venipuncture [25].…”

“…SSC has been confirmed as an effective non-pharmacologic pain reduction intervention when provided by the mother or father [13] [14], and when given alone [15] [16] [17] or in combination with breastfeeding [18], sucrose [19], and rocking [20]. SSC relieves pain from heel-stick [21] [22] [23], injection [15] [16] [24], or venipuncture [25]. A Cochrane analysis of randomized trials of SSC's pain reduction effects in preterm newborns showed that it is highly effective in reducing the pain associated with painful procedures [26].…”