A new method of blood sampling reduces pain for newborn infants: A prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial

BackgroundUsing a new simple blood glucose measurement device (Free Style™), blood can thus be sampled from the forearm, which is less sensitive to pain than from the heel. Measuring the blood glucose levels in newborn infants using Free Style™ is therefore a potentially less painful testing modality than traditional blood sampling methods.ObjectiveTo compare the pain intensity at the time of blood sampling from the forearm using the Free Style™ with the conventional method from the heel.DesignA prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial.Patients and methodsSixty healthy neonates were randomized by the sealed envelope method into two groups—Group F, in which blood was sampled from the forearm using the Free Style™, and Group H, in which blood was conventionally sampled from the heel using a lancet. The pain intensity was assessed based on their crying, the Neonatal Facial Coding System (NFCS) and the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS).ResultsAfter skin puncture, 12 (40%) of the infants cried in Group F and 27 (90%) in Group H. The duration of crying was also significantly shorter in Group F than in Group H. Both of pain scores between the two groups differed significantly, these findings indicated less pain for Group F.ConclusionThe new blood sampling method from the forearm was found to be less painful than the conventional method, thus making it possible to clinically use this product as an innovative method for blood sampling in neonatal medicine.