Comparison of analgesic effect of direct breastfeeding, oral 25% dextrose solution and placebo during 1st DPT vaccination in healthy term infants: a randomized, placebo controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE To compare analgesic effect of direct breast feeding, 25% dextrose solution and placebo as we give 1st intramuscular whole cell DPT injection to 6week - 3month old infants. DESIGN Randomized, placebo controlled trial. SETTINGS Immunization clinic of Department of Pediatrics, LLRM Medical College. PARTICIPANTS Infants coming for their 1st DPT vaccination were randomized in to three groups of 40 each. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES OUTCOME MEASURES The primary outcome variable was the duration of cry after vaccination. Secondary outcome variables were Modified Facial Coding Score (MFCS) and latency of onset of cry. RESULTS 120 babies were equally enrolled in breast feed group, 25% dextrose fed group and distilled water fed group. Median (interquartile range) of duration of cry was significantly lower in breast fed (33.5 (17-54) seconds) and 25% dextrose fed babies (47.5 (31-67.5) seconds) as compared to babies given distilled water (80.5 (33.5-119.5) seconds) (P<0.001). MFCS at 1 min and 3 min was significantly lower in direct breast fed and dextrose fed babies. CONCLUSION Direct breastfeeding and 25% dextrose act as analgesic in young infants undergoing DPT vaccination in young infants less than 3 month of age.