Non-pharmacological pain management measures related to intravenous therapies among infants: A Narrative Review

Pain is a multiplex phenomenon for involving psychological biological and sociological factors. Intravenous therapies are the common cause of pain in hospitalized child. Pain is one of the most overlooked, misdiagnosed, and undertreated diseases, especially in infants. One of the most challenging responsibilities for medical staff caring for infants is to properly assess and manage their discomfort. Infants may feel severe pain when receiving an intravenous therapy. Atraumatic care is a sort of restorative treatment that does not create distress to the infant, while providing care in the emergency department focuses on minimizing stress or maximizing the growing of infant. Atraumatic care is provided by behavior such as implementing diversional treatment, which may lessen the physical and psychological effects of pain in infants while they are hospitalized. Non-pharmacological comforting measures when implemented are important to relieve pain related distress in children during intravenous therapies. Aim: This literature review aimed to check the effectiveness of non- pharmacological measures to reduce intravenous procedural related pain and avoid potential drugs side effects.Method: An extensive search and numerous evaluation of the peer-reviewed literature was conducted for narrative review. Journal article were retrieved from three database (PubMed, Medline, Embase & Research gate) using the search terms ‘intravenous therapies’ ‘infants’ and ‘non-pharmacological pain management measures’ Result: The search yielded ten studies of India related to non-pharmacological measures to reduce pain during intravenous therapies among infants. Subsequent review identified emergent themes of non-pharmacological pain management measures for intravenous therapies.Conclusion: There is a lack of quality evidence regarding the practice of non-pharmacological pain management measure during intravenous therapies for infants. To date, in this area has been limited. Further research is therefore recommended.