Acharya 2004.

Methods	Double‐blind, randomized, controlled, cross‐over trial Painful intervention: venipuncture Study location: NICU at Leicester Royal Infirmary, UK Study period: not stated.
Participants	39 healthy preterm neonates (mean 30.5 (SD 2.3) weeks' GA), mean PNA 27.2 (SD 24.4) days
Interventions	2 mL 25% (0.5 g) sucrose (n = 39) via syringe over 2 min into infant's mouth before 2 routine venipunctures 2 mL water (n = 39) via syringe over 2 min into infant's mouth before 2 routine venipunctures
Outcomes	Rise in HR, oxygen saturation, duration of first cry, total duration of crying, NFCS at the 3 phases of the venipuncture
Notes	Data were reported using means, SDs over the 3 phases of the venipuncture. Data could not be abstracted for the 2 groups prior to cross‐over. Adverse effects were evaluated
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Selected from random number table by a hospital pharmacist
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	Allocation controlled by a hospital pharmacist
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Interventions blinded
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Outcome assessments were done blinded to intervention group
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Inconsistent number of infants reported in Methods section (n = 39) versus discussion section (n = 28)
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	The study protocol was not available to us so we could not judge whether there were any deviations from it
Other bias	Low risk	Appears free of other bias