Distraction Technique for pain reduction in Peripheral Venous Catheterization: randomized, controlled trial

Area of Science:

• Pain Management
• Nursing Care
• Medical Procedures

Background:

• Procedural pain during Peripheral Venous Catheterization (PVC) significantly impacts patient experience.
• Effective pain reduction enhances care quality and patient comfort.
• Non-pharmacological interventions offer alternatives to traditional methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the efficacy of a distraction technique versus anesthetic cream (EMLA) in reducing procedural pain during PVC.
• To evaluate pain perception in patients undergoing Computerized Tomography (CT) or Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) with contrast.

Main Methods:

• Prospective, Randomized Controlled Trial involving 72 patients undergoing PVC.
• Patients were randomized into two groups: distraction technique (n=36) or EMLA (n=36).
• Pain was assessed using the numeric pain-rating scale (NRS) post-procedure and analyzed with the Mann-Whitney Test.

Main Results:

• The distraction group reported significantly lower average pain (0.69) compared to the EMLA group (1.86).
• Median pain scores were 0 for distraction and 2 for EMLA, indicating greater pain reduction with distraction.
• The distraction technique demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in pain reduction (p<.001, r=.42).

Conclusions:

• Distraction is a more effective method than local anesthetic cream for reducing pain perception during PVC insertion.
• This finding highlights the importance of the practitioner-patient relationship in nursing and improving patient compliance.
• Non-pharmacological distraction offers a valuable, evidence-based approach to procedural pain management.