Abstract

Background: Infants are more vulnerable to the negative effects of pain than adults and older children. Non-drug pain management includes non-invasive, safe, and low-cost strategies which can be easily conducted by nurses. Massage therapy, as a non-drug method, can be effective in pain relief in infants.

Aim: To find out how effective the massage therapy is in reducing the pain caused by umbilical vein catheter insertion in preterm infants.

Methods: This present clinical trial study has been conducted in the Neonate Intensive Care Unit (NICU) ward of the Qaem hospital in Mashhad. Sixty-four preterm infants were divided into two groups randomly; control group and experimental one. The experimental group infants were given massage before the umbilical vein catheter insertion. Data collection was performed using questionnaires, checklists, and Premature Infant Pain Profile (PIPP).

Results: The findings showed that the mean and standard deviation of pain scores were significantly lower in the experimental group (2.66±2.82) compared to the control group (9.78±3.63) (p<0.0001). Moreover, the mean changes of heart rate during the umbilical vein catheter insertion in the experimental and control groups were 6.84±7.19 and 18.50±7.95, respectively (p ˂ 0.0001).

Conclusion: Although various results may be obtained using different pain assessment tools, the result which is presented here show that massage therapy can be effective in management and pain relief. Moreover, applying massage can improve some cardiovascular parameters in infants as a valuable finding.

Keywords: Pain, Massage therapy, preterm infants; Umbilical vein catheter