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Manual and alternative therapies as non-pharmacological interventions for pain and stress control in newborns: a systematic review

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Abstract

Background

Supporting therapies that provide stress and pain control of preterm and term newborns infants contribute positively to the neuropsychomotor development. Non-pharmacological interventions that involve manual techniques are described, considering protocols that can be reproduced by physical therapists, with positive and negative outcomes reports.

Data sources

Systematic review follows PRISMA 2020 statements guidelines. Primary and specific health sciences databases (Science Direct, Pubmed, Scielo, Embase and Scopus) were consulted between October 2021 and May 2022. Articles considered were clinical trials, randomized or not, that included descriptions of the type of intervention as non-pharmacological and that studied the following outcomes: “pain” and “stress”.

Results

Fifteen articles were selected for analysis, reaching a methodological quality of at least 3 on the Jadad Scale for the Quality of Researched Sources. The non-pharmacological therapies most applied in isolation were massage, swaddling or wrapping, gentle touch and kinesthetic stimulation, and the combined therapies were non-nutritive sucking and swaddling, oral sucrose and swaddling, sensory stimulation and familiar odors, and sensory saturation. The outcomes found were relaxation, pain, and stress reduction after the application of painful procedures. The behavioral changes included crying, grimacing, yawning, sneezing, jerky arm or leg movements, startles, and finger flaring. The vital signs included heart rate, blood oxygen saturation level, and pulse respiration.

Conclusions

Combined techniques lead to better results in controlling neonatal pain when compared to isolated techniques. They can be applied both in preterm and term infants in a safe way and are reproducible in any health unit in a simple and economical way.

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Data availability

Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil

    Leva A. Shayani & Vera Regina F. da S. Marães

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  1. Leva A. Shayani
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  2. Vera Regina F. da S. Marães
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Contributions

LAS: concepualization, data curation, formal analysis, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing. VRFdSM: concepualization, data curation, formal analysis, writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Leva A. Shayani.

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Shayani, L.A., Marães, V.R.F.S. Manual and alternative therapies as non-pharmacological interventions for pain and stress control in newborns: a systematic review. World J Pediatr 19, 35–47 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12519-022-00601-w

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