Comparison of the Effects of Oral Sucrose 30% and 50% on the Pain of Injection of Hepatitis B Vaccine in Newborns

Uncontrolled pain in newborns results in permanent damage to the growth components of cognitive development and changes in response to subsequent painful stimuli.

The aim of this study was to comparison of the effects of oral sucrose 30% and 50% on the pain of injection of hepatitis B vaccine in newborns.

In these triple-blind clinical trial conducted at Amir-al Momenin Hospital in Semnan, 91 term infants were selected and randomly divided into three groups. Two minutes prior to intramuscular injection of hepatitis B vaccine in the case group, 2 mL of sucrose solution 30% or 50% and in the control group the same volume of sterile water was given orally to the infant. Prior to the administration of sucrose, immediately after injection and 5 minutes after injection the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS) was used to assess pain. For statistical data analysis, Mann-Whitney, chi-square, Kruskal-Wallis, One-Way ANOVA and Dunnett tests at a significance level of 5% were used.

The results showed that sucrose 30% and 50% significantly reduced pain during, immediately, and 5 minutes after injection (P < 0.05).

In general, high concentrations of sucrose can relieve the pain of vaccination and can be used in the clinic.