ReviewChildren (Basel, Switzerland)2018
A Review of Non-Pharmacological Treatments for Pain Management in Newborn Infants.
Review in Children (Basel, Switzerland), 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04560374 (The Effect of Using Crochet Octopus in Reducing The Pain Developed During The Process of Heel Lance İn Neonates), which is not on this map. Cited by 47 papers, 8 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.
The Effect of Using Crochet Octopus in Reducing The Pain Developed During The Process of Heel Lance İn Neonates: A Randomized Controlled Study
Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 128 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neonatal pain assessment and non-pharmacological analgesia: an integrative literature review.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Pooled it
- Sucrose or glucose compared to breast milk for pain control in preterm infants: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2025Pooled it
- Acupuncture for procedural pain in newborn infants.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Assessment of cortisol as a neonatal pain biomarker in the application of non-pharmacological analgesia therapies: systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pediatrics · 2025Pooled it
- Non-pharmacological pain relief interventions in preterm neonates undergoing screening for retinopathy of prematurity: a systematic review.BMJ open ophthalmology · 2023Pooled it
- Effect of Non-Pharmacological Methods in the Reduction of Neonatal Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Interventions for the Management of Pain and Sedation in Newborns Undergoing Therapeutic Hypothermia for Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy: A Systematic Review.Paediatric drugs · 2023Pooled it
- Pharmacological interventions for pain and sedation management in newborn infants undergoing therapeutic hypothermia.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- The effect of combined non-pharmacological interventions on venous blood sampling pain in preterm infants: a clinical trial study.BMC pediatrics · 2025Trial
- White noise's effect on premature infants' physiological parameters during peripheral intravenous catheter insertion.BMC pediatrics · 2025Trial
- The Effect of Auricular Massage on Naso-Oral Suctioning Procedural Pain in Premature Neonates: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Study.TheScientificWorldJournal · 2025Trial
- Comparison of Sucrose vs. Swaddling in Pain Management during Birth Dose of Hepatitis B Vaccine: A Randomized Control Trial.Indian journal of pediatrics · 2024Trial
- Effect of physical therapy on bone remodelling in preterm infants: a multicenter randomized controlled clinical trial.BMC pediatrics · 2022Trial
- Efficacy of Breast Milk Olfactory and Gustatory Interventions on Neonates' Biobehavioral Responses to Pain during Heel Prick Procedures.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Blinded randomized crossover trial: Skin-to-skin care vs. sucrose for preterm neonatal pain.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2020Trial
- Auditory stimulation to reduce procedure pain in neonates: A scoping review.International journal of nursing studies advances · 2026Review
- Use of Tramadol in Pain Management of Neonates with Epidermolysis Bullosa: A Single-Center Experience.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Higher Education as a Driver for the Humanization of Pediatric Pain Care (HUPEDCARE): Protocol of a Multicenter Study.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2026Article
- Role of maternal sound stimulation in the NICU: improving outcomes for newborns and their families.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Review
- Mothers' Views on the Use of Oral Glucose for Pain Relief in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.Nursing in critical care · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Pain is a major problem in sick newborn infants, especially for those needing intensive care. Pharmacological pain relief is the most commonly used, but might be ineffective and has side effects, including long-term neurodevelopmental sequelae. The effectiveness and safety of alternative analgesic methods are ambiguous. The objective was to review the effectiveness and safety of non-pharmacological methods of pain relief in newborn infants and to identify those that are the most effective. PubMed and Google Scholar were searched using the terms: "infant", "premature", "pain", "acupuncture", "skin-to-skin contact", "sucrose", "massage", "musical therapy" and 'breastfeeding'. We included 24 studies assessing different methods of non-pharmacological analgesic techniques. Most resulted in some degree of analgesia but many were ineffective and some were even detrimental. Sucrose, for example, was often ineffective but was more effective than music therapy, massage, breast milk (for extremely premature infants) or non-invasive electrical stimulation acupuncture. There were also conflicting results for acupuncture, skin-to-skin care and musical therapy. Most non-pharmacological methods of analgesia provide a modicum of relief for preterm infants, but none are completely effective and there is no clearly superior method. Study is also required to assess potential long-term consequences of any of these methods.
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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.