Benefits and limitations of non-nutritive sucking stimuli for pain relief: a speech-language pathology perspective

Abstract

Newborns undergo many painful and stressful procedures, causing unpleasant experiences. Various procedures are used with the purpose of promoting pain relief. Procedures may include pharmacological measures and non-pharmacological measures like non-nutritive sucking (NNS). Objective: A literature review was conducted with the hypothesis that oral stimuli could be considered invasive and capable of causing discomfort and/or disrupting the sucking function of neonates. Methods: Selection was performed using the PubMed database and, after selected exclusion, eight articles were analyzed. Results: Most articles conducted studies with a viable number of participants. Only two articles specified age; gestational age was variable; all articles used pain scales and evaluated acute pain, but none of them mentioned the implications of chronic and prolonged pain. Most used glucose or sucrose for pain relief; one used breast milk, heartbeat sounds, and NNS. Conclusion: The articles did not report the duration of the NNS stimulus, or the number of sucking groups observed, in addition to the degree of oral maturity of the participating neonate. None of the studies described how the newborn's acceptance of the NNS stimulus occurred during the painful procedure. There is no standardization, scales, and consensus on using this technique in different populations of newborns. More studies need to be conducted with a focus on sensory and functional aspects, as there is a scarcity of literature on this topic.