Oral sucrose for pain management in the paediatric emergency department; a review

Summary 

Provision of effective analgesia for infants and children is important during painful procedures performed in emergency departments. Although small volumes of sweet-tasting solutions have been extensively shown to be analgesic during minor painful procedures in newborn infants, there have been fewer studies of sucrose use in infants beyond the neonatal period, and in children. This review of sucrose effectiveness in infants beyond the neonatal period highlights that sucrose continues to provide some analgesia, resulting in procedural pain reduction, however the effects may be less marked. There is inadequate evidence to support the use of sucrose during painful procedures in school-aged children. Oral sucrose should be included in paediatric emergency department pain management guidelines as one of the possible strategies to utilise for infants during minor painful procedures. Careful assessment of pain and distress during procedures is required to evaluate the effectiveness of sucrose analgesia. Appropriate comfort measures should always be used, and adjunct analgesics should be utilised as required.

Keywords: Sucrose, Pain, Analgesia, Infant, Emergency service, Hospital