In a clinical trial, the concomitant use of ear muffs and eye shields during painful procedures reduced infants' pain more effectively than each intervention alone. When collecting preterm infants' venous blood, researchers wanted to determine the impact of an eye cover and ear muffs on the intensity of pain.

Overall, 148 premature neonates were randomized to 4 groups (n = 37 each). Eye shields, ear muffs, and eye shields + ear muffs were utilized in the first group, second group and third group, respectively, fifteen minutes prior to intravenous blood sampling until 15 minutes later. Routine sampling of blood was done in the 4th group (control). Data collection was done utilizing a demographic questionnaire and the Non-Invasive Prenatal Screening (NIPS) pain scale.

Both during and after venous blood sampling, a substantial difference in the mean neonatal pain intensity was witnessed between the study groups (Table 1).

Both during and after venous blood collection, the ear muffs + eye shield group experienced less pain than the other groups. Therefore, it is advised to use both eye protection and ear muffs while taking venous blood samples from premature infants.