Effect of Sucrose on Sedation in Fasting Children in Waiting Room before Entrance to Operating Room

Cries of the newborn could be due to pain, thirst, hungry and fear from new environment. In our study we evaluated the effect of the sucrose drops on pacifying the children prior to a painful intervention or procedure with regards to the fasting condition of the children. This triple blind clinical trial was conducted on 60 otherwise healthy children aged less than 1 year with ASA I, who were candidates for an outpatient surgical procedure after obtaining the parents’ consent. Patients were divided in to two groups, one group received 0.5 ml oral sterile water and the other group 0.5 ml oral sucrose 24%. Heart rate and restlessness were evaluated based on the pediatric anesthesia emergence delirium (PAED) scale score system before and at 1, 3, 5, and 9 minute in both groups. 60 patients were evaluated in this study, 30 patients received sterile water and 30 patients received sucrose 24%. The sex, mean age and mean weight of the patients showed no significant difference between the two groups. The restlessness score according to the PAED in sucrose group (8.1,7.97,8.8,9.63) is less than in the sterile water group (10.63,10.77,11,10.9) (p‹0.001). Heart rate in sucrose group is less than sterile water group in minute 3 (p=0.006). Parents’ satisfaction in the sucrose group was more than sterile water group (p‹0.001). According to the findings of this study, we recommend the use of sucrose alone or with other methods (pacifier sucking, mother’s hug) to decrease restlessness in children aged under one year whose restlessness is due to fasting.