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Comparison of the Effects of Hugo's Point Massage and Play on IV-Line Placement Pain in Children: A Randomized
Shahnaz Salawati Ghasemi1, Mehdi Beyramijam2, Fatemeh Yarahmadi3
1Instructor, Nursing and Midwifery Faculty, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.
Insights
Play therapy significantly reduces pain during intravenous line placement in children, offering a more effective non-pharmacological pain management strategy than Hugo's point massage for pediatric nurses.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nursing
- Pain Management
- Child Psychology
Background:
- Intravenous (IV) line placement is a common and often painful procedure for hospitalized children.
- Effective pain reduction strategies are crucial nursing priorities in pediatric care.
- Non-pharmacological interventions are increasingly sought to manage procedural pain in children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the effectiveness of Hugo's point massage and play therapy in reducing IV-line placement pain.
- To evaluate these interventions in hospitalized children aged 3-6 years.
Main Methods:
- A randomized controlled trial involving 72 children aged 3-6 years.
- Three groups were established: control, play therapy (bubble-making), and Hugo's point massage.
- Pain severity was assessed before and after interventions using standardized methods.
Main Results:
- No significant difference in pain levels was observed between groups before the intervention.
- A statistically significant difference in pain reduction was found after interventions (p=0.006).
- Play therapy demonstrated significantly greater pain reduction compared to Hugo's point massage (p=0.028).
Conclusions:
- Play therapy is a more effective intervention than Hugo's point massage for reducing IV-line placement pain in children.
- Pediatric nurses can utilize play therapy as a valuable non-pharmacological tool for pain management.
- This study highlights the importance of integrating child-centered, non-pharmacological approaches in pediatric nursing practice.
Abstract:
Reduction of intravenous line placement pain is one of the most important nursing priorities in the pediatric wards. The present study was aimed at comparing the effect of Hugo's point massage and play on the severity of IV-line placement pain in hospitalized children aged 3-6 years in the pediatric ward. 72 children were selected and assigned randomly to three groups, i.e., control, play, and Hugo point massage. In the massage group, the middle angle between the first and second bones of the palm of the opposite hand was massaged, and the playgroup encouraged bubble-making play. The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) did not show a statistically significant difference between the mean IV-line placement pain in play, Hugo's point, and control groups before interventions (p=0.838; p > 0.05). However, the ANOVA test revealed a significant difference between the mean IV-line placement pain in play, Hugo's point, and control groups after the interventions (p=0.006; p < 0.05). The result of the post hoc Scheffe test also showed a statistically significant difference between the mean intensity of IV-line placement pain in both play therapy and Hugo's point massage groups (p=0.028; p < 0.05). Moreover, this test showed that the playgroup children felt less pain than Hugo's point and control group children. This study showed that, in comparison with Hugo's point massage, the play was a more effective way for reducing pain caused by IV-line placement in children, and pediatric nurses can play a significant role in reducing and managing children's pain by using it.
