Effectiveness of Oral Sucrose for Preterm Infants Undergoing Point-of-care Lung Ultrasound: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Background: control of pain in neonates has an important role in preventing long- term effects on neurodevelopment and pain reactivity. Oral sucrose and non-nutritive suckling are considered a non-pharmacological treatment that has many advantages. Currently, there is controversy regarding the use of sucrose during point of care lung ultrasound (LUS) scan as many consider LUS is not a painful procedure.
Objective: Determine the efficacy of oral sucrose solution + soother versus soother alone in reducing infant's agitation during LUS scan Method: This is a blinded, prospective, parallel group randomized controlled trial comparing the Premature infant pain profile (PIPP) score in infants randomized to receive oral sucrose followed by soother soother vs. soother alone while having LUS scan Study outcomes: The primary outcome of this study is to compare the changes in PIPP scores at 4 time points between infants receiving oral sucrose solution + soother versus soother alone. The secondary outcomes are 1) total time to complete a standard LUS scan from start of scanning to the end, 2) Association of LUS with adverse events e.g., episodes of desaturation, tachycardia, bradycardia or apnea.
• Preterm infants (GA \< 37 weeks) admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, Mount Sinai Hospital,
• Undergoing LUS for clinical or research purpose,
• Hemodynamically stable (not requiring any circulatory support), and
• Written informed parental consent is obtained.