The Effect of Breast Milk Odor in Venipuncture Pain in Preterm Infants: Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Abstract

Backgrounds and Objectives: Research suggests that both preterm and term infants can be remember and understand their own womb odor and prefer them to environmental odors. Studies show that use of olfactory stimuli during painful medical procedures reduces pain responses of infants. The main purpose of this study is investigating the effect of breast milk odor on pain response in preterm infants during and after venipuncture. Materials and Methods: This study is a randomized clinical trial research. 90 preterm infants who were eligible to participate in the study were randomly selected and divided to two groups; control and breast milk. In breast milk group, infants were exposed to the smell breast milk odor five minutes before sampling to thirty seconds after it finishes. Infants’ pain has been measured using PIPP score, 30 seconds before venipuncture, during sampling and 30 seconds after the end of venipuncture Results: Statistical analyses showed that there are significant difference between pain score of infants of two groups during sampling (p=0.01) and after the end of venipuncture (p=0.05) Conclusion: According to the results breast milk odor can be used for reduction of preterm infants’ response to pain during and after blood sampling