The Effect of Lavender Oil on Pain Control in Premature Infants: A Randomized Controlled Study.

Objective: The pain control is essential in premature babies. These babies stay in neonatal intensive care unit for a long time and many invasive procedures are applied during this period. The effects of stress and pain on newborns have recently been studied in details. Lavender oil has soothing effect on adults. However, it was not investigated on pain control in premature infants previously. The aim of our study was to determine the effect of lavender oil scent on pain management in preterm infants during heel-stick sampling. Method: This was a prospective double-blind, randomized controlled trial that was conducted in Bezmialem Vakıf University Hospital from March 2019 to November 2019. The study was approved by the local ethical board (28.02.2019 no: 71306642-050.0104-). Babies were randomized into 2 groups. Lavender oil was used in the lavender oil group and distilled water was used in the control group. Premature infant pain profile-revised (PIPP-R) was used for scoring before, during and after the heel-stick sampling in both groups. Results: A total of 61 premature infants were enrolled in the study, consisted of 29 girls (47.5%) and 32 boys (52.5%) aged 2-25 days (mean age 5.31±4.85 days). No significant difference was found in gestational age, birthweight or delivery mode between two groups (p>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in PIPP-R scores before the sampling between two groups (p>0.05). There was a statistically significant difference in PIPP-R scores during and after the sampling between two groups (p<0.008 and p>0.03 respectively). Conclusion: The study showed that lavender oil may be effective on pain control during heel-stick in premature infants. It can be an alternative non-pharmacological method to relief pain in invasive procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]