OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether therapeutic touch in preterm infants can ameliorate their sensory punctate stimulus response in terms of brain activation measured by near-infrared spectroscopy. METHODS: The study included 10 preterm infants at 34-40 weeks' corrected age. Oxyhaemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) concentration, heart rate (HR), arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) and body movements were recorded during low-intensity sensory punctate stimulation for 1 s with and without therapeutic touch by a neonatal development specialist nurse. Each stimulation was followed by a resting phase of 30 s. All measurements were performed with the infants asleep in the prone position. RESULTS: sensory punctate stimulus exposure significantly increased the oxy-Hb concentration but did not affect HR, SaO2 and body movements. The infants receiving therapeutic touch had significantly decreased oxy-Hb concentrations over time. CONCLUSIONS: Therapeutic touch in preterm infants can ameliorate their sensory punctate stimulus response in terms of brain activation, indicated by increased cerebral oxygenation. Therefore, therapeutic touch may have a protective effect on the autoregulation of cerebral blood flow during sensory punctate stimulus in neonates.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether therapeutic touch in preterm infants can ameliorate their sensory punctate stimulus response in terms of brain activation measured by near-infrared spectroscopy. METHODS: The study included 10 preterm infants at 34-40 weeks' corrected age. Oxyhaemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) concentration, heart rate (HR), arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) and body movements were recorded during low-intensity sensory punctate stimulation for 1 s with and without therapeutic touch by a neonatal development specialist nurse. Each stimulation was followed by a resting phase of 30 s. All measurements were performed with the infants asleep in the prone position. RESULTS: sensory punctate stimulus exposure significantly increased the oxy-Hb concentration but did not affect HR, SaO2 and body movements. The infants receiving therapeutic touch had significantly decreased oxy-Hb concentrations over time. CONCLUSIONS: Therapeutic touch in preterm infants can ameliorate their sensory punctate stimulus response in terms of brain activation, indicated by increased cerebral oxygenation. Therefore, therapeutic touch may have a protective effect on the autoregulation of cerebral blood flow during sensory punctate stimulus in neonates.
Authors: Olena Chorna; Jessica E Solomon; James C Slaughter; Ann R Stark; Nathalie L Maitre Journal: Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed Date: 2014-07-22 Impact factor: 5.747
Authors: Tanja Karen; Stefan Kleiser; Daniel Ostojic; Helene Isler; Sabino Guglielmini; Dirk Bassler; Martin Wolf; Felix Scholkmann Journal: Neurophotonics Date: 2019-11-06 Impact factor: 3.593