Modified Sensory Stimulation Using Breastmilk for Reducing Pain Intensity in Neonates in Indonesia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Purpose: Several studies have shown that oral sucrose reduces pain in newborns. However, sucrose has no
efficacy in eliminating pain and long-term effects remain unclear. Breast milk may be useful as an alternative,
safe sweet solution. Sensorial saturation (SS) is a multisensory analgesic non-pharmacological treatment,
which includes touch and sounds as distractors. This study aimed to compare the analgesic effects
of SS with sucrose (SSS), SS with breast milk (SSB), and oral sucrose alone (S24%) in neonates undergoing
venipuncture.
Design and methods: This was a randomized controlled trial conducted on 108 neonates who underwent venipuncture
at neonatology wards. All babies were randomly assigned to one of three groups: two intervention
groups and one control group. Pain response was assessed using the premature infant pain profile—
revised (PIPP-R). Data analysis was conducted using the Kruskal–Wallis test and Mann–Whitney U test.
Results: SSB and SSS were more effective than S24% (p = 0.001). No difference was observed between SSB
and SSS (p = 0.669).
Conclusion: Multisensory stimulation is more effective in reducing pain than unimodal (oral sucrose) analgesia.
Breast milk can be used as a sensory gustatory stimulus in multisensory stimulation to reduce pain
intensity in neonates, and demonstrates a similar analgesic effect to sucrose.
Practice implications: The study findings suggest that neonatal nurses could use SSB formanagement of pain.
This intervention could serve as an effective, inexpensive, and safe non-pharmacological analgesic. Additional
testing of this intervention is warranted to support its use as an evidence-based pain reduction
approach.