Background: Hammock positioning is now frequently used with preterm infants admitted to ICUs. However, few studies have investigated the extent to which hammock positioning reduces pain and improves the sleep-wakefulness state compared with traditional positioning.
Methods: Twenty-six clinically stable newborns with gestational ages from 30 to 37 weeks who were breathing spontaneously were randomly assigned to 2 groups: a hammock-positioning group (n = 13), in which newborns were placed in hammocks in the lateral position, and a traditional-positioning group (n = 13), in which they were kept nested, also in the lateral position. The following variables were evaluated at the beginning and the end of the treatment: pain (with the Premature Infant Pain Profile, and Neonatal Facial Coding System), sleep-wakefulness state (with the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale), heart rate, breathing frequency, and peripheral SpO2 .
Results: The subjects in the hammock-positioning group showed an improvement in pain compared with the traditional-positioning group(Premature Infant Pain Profile score, 2.62 ± 1.89 vs 2.31 ± 1.97, ΔP = .008) and sleep-wakefulness state score (2.08 ± 0.64 vs 1.23 ± 0.44, Δ P < .001), reduced heart rate (151.69 ± 5.44 vs 142.77 ± 5.18 beats/min, Δ P < .001), breathing frequency (52.31 ± 4.05 vs 50.23 ± 2.55 beats/min, Δ P = .024), and increased peripheral SpO2 (94.69 ± 2.14 vs 98.00 ± 1.22%, Δ P < .001).
Conclusions: Hammock positioning was an effective treatment option to reduce pain and improve sleep-wakefulness state. It also helped to reduce heart rate and breathing frequency, and to increase peripheral SpO2 , which made it a treatment option for preterm infants.
Keywords: patient positioning; physical therapy specialty; preterm infant; respiratory care; respiratory therapy.
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