Oral 10% Dextrose was More Effective than Expressed Breast Milk for Pain Relief in Neonates Receiving Their First Dose of Hepatitis B Vaccination

Background: Pain management is often overlooked in neonates undergoing minor procedures.Other than traditional analgesics, several nonpharmacological methods, such as expressed breast milk (EBM) and oral sweet solutions like dextrose, have been tried, but the comparative efficacy remains debated.Objective: To compare the analgesic effects of oral 10% dextrose vs EBM in neonates before they receive their first dose of hepatitis B vaccination.Materials and methods: A single-center prospective observational study was conducted with 300 neonates randomly assigned into two groups of 150 each.Neonates received either 2 mL of EBM or 10% dextrose 2 minutes before vaccination.Pain was assessed using the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS), duration of crying, and heart rate.Results: Mean NIPS score was significantly lower in the 10% dextrose group (2.1 1.9) compared to the EBM group (5.3 2.7; p < 0.001).The cry time was also significantly lower in the dextrose group (14.67 4.6 s) vs the EBM group (82.24 26.57; p < 0.001).The groups did not differ in the changes in heart rate.Conclusion: Oral 10% dextrose was more effective than EBM in reducing procedural pain in neonates before they received their first dose of hepatitis B vaccination.