| Study | Reason for exclusion |
|---|---|
| Abad 1993 | Available as an abstract only |
| Abad 2001 | Although this was an RCT, 4 newborns were included twice (i.e. there were 55 events recorded for 51 participants), therefore, it was not possible to separate data for 51 newborns |
| Ahuja 2000 | This was a non‐randomised study. A single cohort was studied. The intervention was a non‐sucrose sweetener |
| Akman 2002 | The word 'random' does not appear anywhere in the text. It is unlikely that this is an RCT |
| Aziznejad 2013 | The age of the infants was 8.5 months |
| Barbier 1994 | Study did not include the use of sucrose |
| Barr 1993 | Although an RCT, the authors did not provide information on the number of infants in each group. Results were presented in graph form without indicating whether means or medians were used. No standard deviations were presented |
| Barr 1995 | Excluded based on PNA (2 and 4 months PNA) |
| Bilgen 2001 | This manuscript was published previously in the European Journal of Pediatrics ("Comparison of sucrose and human milk on pain response in newborns" by Ors et al, Eur J Pediatr, 158:63‐66, 1999) and so, this article has been retracted by the Journal of Pain The editor of the Journal of Pain states that "Anyone citing this article must cite from the European Journal of Pediatrics and not from the Journal of Pain" |
| Blass 1991 | Although this was an RCT the number of neonates in each group was not stated |
| Blass 1995 | This was a controlled trial without randomisation. The number of patients in each group was not stated |
| Blass 2001 | Study not fully randomised |
| Bucher 2000 | This study used an artificial sweetener, glycine or breast milk as the intervention |
| Curtis 2007 | PNA 0 to 6 months |
| Dilli 2009 | PNA 0 to 48 months. A group < 1 month old could not be separated |
| Efe 2007 | Study not fully randomised |
| Fernandez 2003 | The noxious stimulus was heel stroke, which is non‐invasive |
| Gibbins 2000 | Available as an abstract only |
| Gormally 1996 | Available as an abstract only |
| Graillon 1997 | An RCT cross‐over study in which no painful stimulus was applied to the neonates |
| Harrison 2011 | Not an RCT |
| Isik 2000b | Available as an abstract only |
| Johnston 2000 | Available as an abstract only |
| Joung 2010 | Non‐randomised study |
| Lewindon 1998 | The infants in this study were too old for inclusion in this review (mean age 17.1 weeks) |
| Mandel 2012 | All infants received sucrose |
| Mellah 1999 | Randomised double blind cross‐over study. Data analyzed by paired t‐test. Results from the first exposure to sucrose or placebo could not be isolated |
| Mohan 1998 | Control group was not randomised |
| Ozdogan 2010 | This was a quasi‐randomised trial. "Healthy newborns (n = 142) were consecutively allocated to one of the six groups: ..." |
| Ramenghi 2002 | Immunisations performed at 2, 3 or 4 months, so infants were too old for this review |
| Razmus 2004 | Study not fully randomised |
| Reis 2003 | Mean PNA 9.5 weeks |
| Sahebihag 2011 | Infants were too old for this review |
| Scaramuzzo 2013 | Dr Scaramuzzo informed us that “our randomisation method was simply one yes‐one not”. This was therefore a quasi‐randomised trial which we did not include in the review |
| Skogsdal 1997 | This study used glucose and breast milk as the interventions |
| Stevens 1997b | Available as an abstract only |
| Stevens 2000 | Available as an abstract only |
| Taddio 2000 | Not an RCT and included older infants |
| Taddio 2003 | Infants did not receive a painful procedure |
| Taddio 2009b | Population subset of a larger study already included in the review |
| Vederhus 2006 | Sucrose was not used as an intervention |
| Yoon 2001 | Not fully randomised |
Abbreviations
PNA = postnatal age RCT = randomised controlled trial