Comparative efficacy of pain relieving interventions to reduce procedural pain in neonates: A systematic review and network meta-analysis

All babies experience pain and those in intensive care receive an average of 12 painful procedures a day with less than half receiving pain relief. Effective interventions to reduce newborn procedural pain exist (e.g breastfeeding, skin contact, sugar water, non nutritive sucking), but the small number of head-to-head comparisons between interventions limits identification of a “Gold Standard” approach. By using network meta-analysis this project will allow us to determine what treatment or combination of treatments is likely to be best. By using existing evidence, instead of starting a new clinical trial, we can provide recommendations more quickly and at a lower cost.

Research protocol

The project is lead by Marsha Campbell-Yeo.