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Review: venepuncture is less painful than heel lance for blood sampling in neonates

V Shah

Dr V Shah, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; vshah@mtsinai.on.ca

QUESTION
Is venepuncture less painful than heel lance for blood sampling in healthy neonates?

REVIEW SCOPE
Studies selected compared venepuncture and heel lance for blood sampling in healthy term neonates. Outcomes were neonatal pain response (assessed by a validated measure), maternal anxiety, sampling time, and need for repeat skin puncture.

REVIEW METHODS
Medline, CINAHL, and EMBASE/Excerpta Medica (to Jun 2007); Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Issue 2, 2007); and reference lists were searched for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi-randomised trials. 5 RCTs (n = 317, 47–59% boys) met the selection criteria. All trials had adequate allocation concealment; in no trial were investigators or participants blinded, but the outcome assessor was blinded in 2 RCTs.

MAIN RESULTS
Various methods of pain assessment were used; all showed that neonatal pain response was lower with venepuncture than with heel lance (table). 1 RCT (n = 27) . . . [Full text of this article]

Rosalie Mainous

University of Louisville, School of Nursing, Louisville, Kentucky, USA