Trial reportBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2003
Analgesic effect of breast feeding in term neonates: randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2003. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 4 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 42 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Analgesic Effect of Breast Feeding vs Sucrose in Neonatal Screening
Breastmilk or Oral Sucrose Solution in Preterm Neonates for Procedural Pain: a Randomized, Controlled Study
Non-pharmacological Analgesia During Heel Prick: A Randomized, Controlled Trial
Is Inhaled Colostrum as Effective as Inhaled Lavender Essential Oil for Pain Control in Neonatal Frenotomy: A Prospective, Randomized Clinical Trial
Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 279 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Physical Interventions Administered Orally for Infants for Reducing Distress During Vaccine Injections.The Clinical journal of pain · 2026Pooled it
- Breastfeeding or breast milk for procedural pain in neonates.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Non-pharmacological management of infant and young child procedural pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Non-pharmacological care for opioid withdrawal in newborns.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Development of locally relevant clinical guidelines for procedure-related neonatal analgesic practice in Kenya: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The Lancet. Child & adolescent health · 2020Pooled it
- Non-pharmacological management of infant and young child procedural pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- [Non-pharmaceutical measures, topical analgesics and oral administration of glucose in pain management: Austrian interdisciplinary recommendations on pediatric perioperative pain management].Schmerz (Berlin, Germany) · 2014Guideline
- Breastfeeding or breast milk for procedural pain in neonates.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2012Pooled it
- Guidelines for procedural pain in the newborn.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2009Guideline
- A systematic review and meta-analyses of nonsucrose sweet solutions for pain relief in neonates.Pain research & managementPooled it
- Impact of breast milk on cortical pain response in newborns during the heel prick procedure: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Sucrose and warmth for analgesia in healthy newborns: an RCT.Pediatrics · 2015Trial
- Trial of repeated analgesia with Kangaroo Mother Care (TRAKC Trial).BMC pediatrics · 2013Trial
- Kangaroo Mother Care in reducing pain in preterm neonates on heel prick.Indian journal of pediatrics · 2013Trial
- Warmth is analgesic in healthy newborns.Pain · 2012Trial
- Pain response in newborns to the order of injecting BCG and Hepatitis-B vaccines: a randomized trial.Indian journal of pediatrics · 2011Trial
- Kangaroo mother care diminishes pain from heel lance in very preterm neonates: a crossover trial.BMC pediatrics · 2008Trial
- Pain Management During Neonatal Blood Sampling: An Overview of Systematic Reviews.Paediatric & neonatal pain · 2026Review
- Efficacy of Dextrose Versus Breast Milk on Pain and Comfort in Neonates Undergoing Heel Lance: A Pilot Study.Cureus · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo investigate whether breast feeding is effective for pain relief during venepuncture in term neonates and compare any effect with that of oral glucose combined with a pacifier.
designRandomised controlled trial.
participants180 term newborn infants undergoing venepuncture; 45 in each group.
interventionsDuring venepuncture infants were either breast fed (group 1), held in their mother's arms without breast feeding (group 2), given 1 ml of sterile water as placebo (group 3), or given 1 ml of 30% glucose followed by pacifier (group 4). Video recordings of the procedure were assessed by two observers blinded to the purpose of the study.
main outcome measuresPain related behaviours evaluated with two acute pain rating scales: the Douleur Aiguë Nouveau-né scale (range 0 to 10) and the premature infant pain profile scale (range 0 to 18).
resultsMedian pain scores (interquartile range) for breast feeding, held in mother's arms, placebo, and 30% glucose plus pacifier groups were 1 (0-3), 10 (8.5-10), 10 (7.5-10), and 3 (0-5) with the Douleur Aiguë Nouveau-né scale and 4.5 (2.25-8), 13 (10.5-15), 12 (9-13), and 4 (1-6) with the premature infant pain profile scale. Analysis of variance showed significantly different median pain scores (P<0.0001) among the groups. There were significant reductions in both scores for the breast feeding and glucose plus pacifier groups compared with the other two groups (P<0.0001, two tailed Mann-Whitney U tests between groups). The difference in Douleur Aiguë Nouveau-né scores between breast feeding and glucose plus pacifier groups was not significant (P=0.16).
conclusionsBreast feeding effectively reduces response to pain during minor invasive procedure in term neonates.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.