Effects of Local Anesthetic Cream on Pain Relief in Newborns During Venipuncture

Purpose: Newborns routinely experience pain associated with invasive procedures such as blood sampling, venipuncture, heelstick, or venous cannulation.This study was done to provide data for a nursing intervention to alleviate newborn pain clinically by investigating the effect of local anesthetic cream during venipuncture.Methods: Participants were 70 newborns hospitalized in the nursery.Informed Consent was obtained from parents of the newborns.Venipuncture for regular blood sampling was carried out for a test on 2 groups; the experimental, placebo group.The neonatal infant pain scale (NIPS), and duration of crying were measured to assess pain reaction.All neonatal behaviors were recorded on videotape.Results: There were significant differences in pain behavior during venipuncture (t=-4.752,p<.001), immediately after sampling (t=-5.591,p<.001), 3 minutes after puncture (t=-2.469,p=.017), and in duration of crying (t=-3.005,p=.004).Conclusion: Results show that local administration of EMLA cream before venipuncture causes a reduction in neonatal pain response, indicating that the EMLA cream has the effect of pain relief.