Efficacy of Facilitated Tucking During Pain Procedure in Preterm Infants

Preterm infants undergo very frequent painful procedures during neonatal care particularly during the first few days. The support for the pain of the preterm is a priority for nurses and neonatologists. Previous studies showed that non-nutritive sucking combined with sucrose ensures effective pain-relief for preterm (28-32 weeks GA). Unfortunately, the use of sucrose is limited to 4 administrations per day which is insufficient compared to the average of daily painful procedures. So, validation of an effective non-pharmacological intervention to relieve or avoid pain is essential. Facilitated tucking alone has been validated for preterm less than 37 GA during heel stick procedure with the PIPP score but no study looks for the benefit for pain relief of the association of non-nutritive sucking and facilitated tucking during heel stick procedure.