Analgesic effect of inhaled lavender essential oil for frenotomy in healthy neonates: a randomized clinical trial.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Maya-Enero, Silvia Fàbregas-Mitjans, Montserrat Llufriu-Marquès, Rosa Maria Candel-Pau, Júlia Garcia-Garcia, Jordi López-Vílchez, María Ángeles
Abstract	BackgroundNeonatal pain may affect long-term neurodevelopment and must be treated. Frenotomy is a painful procedure wherein a common strategy to relieve pain (sucking) cannot be used because the technique is performed on the tongue. Lavender essential oil (LEO) has sedative and antispasmodic properties and has been successfully used to treat pain during heel puncture and vaccination. Our aim was to demonstrate if the use of inhaled LEO is effective in reducing pain during frenotomy in healthy, full-term neonates.MethodsWe conducted a randomized clinical trial in neonates who underwent a frenotomy between August 2020 and April 2021. We assessed pain using pre and post-procedure heart rate and oxygen saturation, crying time and Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS) score. Patients with type 3 tongue tie were randomized into the “experimental group” and “control group”. In both groups, we performed swaddling, administered oral sucrose, and let the newborn suck for two minutes. In the experimental group, we also placed a gauze pad with one drop of LEO under the neonate’s nose for two minutes prior to and during the frenotomy.ResultsWe enrolled 142 patients (71 per group). The experimental group showed significantly lower NIPS scores (1.88 vs 2.92) and cried almost half the amount of time (14.8 vs. 24.6 seconds, P = 0.006). Comparing with the control group, we observed no side effects in either of the groups.ConclusionsWe observed a significant decrease in crying time and lower NIPS scores in the neonates who received inhaled LEO and underwent a frenotomy for type 3 tongue-ties. Thus, we recommend using inhaled LEO during neonatal frenotomies.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12519-022-00531-7.
Related Links	https://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC8978507&blobtype=pdf
ISSN	17088569
Journal	World Journal of Pediatrics [World J Pediatr]
Volume Number	18
DOI	10.1007/s12519-022-00531-7
PubMed Central reference number	PMC8978507
Issue Number	6
PubMed reference number	35377106
e-ISSN	18670687
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Nature Singapore
Publisher Date	2022-04-04
Publisher Place	Singapore
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. © Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine 2022
Subject Keyword	Ankyloglossia Aromatherapy Frenotomy Lavender Neonate Neonatal pain Tongue-tie
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health