Soft tissue therapy in managing neonatal procedural pain: A Systematic Review

Abstract

BackgroundThe neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a specialized unit for unwell and preterm newborns. During their stay in the NICU, newborns must go through a series of painful prognostic procedures. There are a variety of non-pharmacological approaches including massage therapy for managing the negative effects of procedural pain on neonatal development. ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of Soft tissue therapy on procedural pain management in neonates. Methods and materialsThis is a systematic literature review study with articles searched in the electronic databases: PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), and EBSCO, evaluated respectively in the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS). Studies published from 2005 to 2021 were included for review. ResultsA total of eight articles were included with 729 neonates receiving soft tissue therapy for pain management in neonates. The results of this current study revealed the effectiveness of soft tissue therapy in significantly reducing pain scores (p˂0.05) among neonates who underwent painful procedures. ConclusionSoft tissue treatment was found to be useful in controlling pain in neonatal procedural pain. The techniques of soft tissue therapy enhance the clinical state of neonates; reduces crying time, and results in an overall decrease in duration of hospital stay.