Effect of white noise and lullaby made neonates operated for congenital heart di̇sease li̇sten on pain during endotracheal aspirati̇on

This study was conducted as a crossover randomized study in order to determine the effects of two nonpharmacological methods, white noise and lullaby, on pain during endotracheal aspiration (EA) in neonates operated for congenital heart disease. The study population was comprised of intubated neonates admitted to Pediatric Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit of Istanbul Mehmet Akif Ersoy Cardiovascular and Chest Surgery Training and Research Hospital between June 2022 and October 2022, and the study sample was comprised of 27 neonates meeting the sample selection criteria. For data collection, Newborn Follow-up Form, Newborn Intervention Follow-up Form, Neonatal Pain/Agitation and Sedation Scale (N-PASS) were used. The newborns were made listen to white noise or lullaby, depending on the group included in, between five minutes (min) before and 15 minutes after endotracheal aspiration. Physiologic parameters of the newborns (heart rate (HR), respiration, blood pressure, oxygen saturation) were recorded before, during and after the procedure, and N-PASS scores were given by two observers using video recording. The study revealed that baseline values of all parameters were similar between the groups, mean N-PASS scores of the groups which were made lullaby and white noise listen 5 minutes after starting to listen, during EA, just after, after 5 minutes, and after 15 minutes were significantly lower than that of the control group, and that the mean N-PASS score of the white noise group was also significantly lower compared to the lullaby group (p<0.001). Mean HR, systolic and diastolic pressures during EA of the lullaby and white noise groups were found to be significantly lower than the control group (p<0.05). The study concluded that making newborns listen to white noise and lullaby is effective in relieving EA-induced pain. It is recommended to prefer white noise to relieve the pain in newborns, and making them listen to lullaby when white noise is unavailable. Conduction of studies comparing white noise and lullaby with other newborn-specific nonpharmacological methods is recommeded. Keywords: endotracheal aspiration, lullaby, newborn, pain, white noise.