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EFFECTIVENESS OF ICE APPLICATION AT SELECTED ACUPOINT (LI-4) PRIOR TO INTRAMUSCULAR INJECTION ON LEVEL OF PAIN AMONG
V Sundararajan1, C Devi2, R Jayalakshmi3
11Department of Pediatric and Neonatal Nursing, Institute of Health Sciences, Wollega University, Ethiopia.
Insights
Applying ice to the LI-4 acupoint before intramuscular vaccine injections significantly reduces pain in children. This simple, non-invasive method offers effective pain relief without side effects, improving the immunization experience.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Pain Management
- Immunology
Background:
- Immunization is crucial for preventing childhood diseases, but injections cause significant pain.
- Pain from injections can lead to long-term physical and psychological distress.
- Effective, non-pharmacological pain management strategies are needed for pediatric vaccinations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of ice application at the LI-4 acupoint for reducing injection pain in children.
- To compare pain levels in children receiving standard care versus ice application before intramuscular vaccination.
Main Methods:
- A basic experimental design with a control group was used.
- 105 children were randomly sampled at a primary health center in Tamil Nadu, India.
- Ice cubes wrapped in gauze were applied to the LI-4 acupoint for 30 seconds before intramuscular vaccine administration.
Main Results:
- A statistically significant difference (p<0.001) in pain levels was observed between the control and experimental groups.
- Ice application at the LI-4 acupoint demonstrated high effectiveness in reducing children's pain during vaccination.
- Pain assessment utilized the Children's Hospital Eastern Ontario pain scale and Wong Baker's Faces pain scale.
Conclusions:
- Ice application at the LI-4 acupoint is a safe, simple, and cost-effective intervention for reducing vaccination pain in children.
- This non-invasive method provides significant pain relief without adverse side effects, unlike pharmacological interventions.
- Implementing ice acupoint therapy can improve the vaccination experience for children and reduce stress associated with injections.
Abstract:
Immunization is an effective and safest way to prevent vaccine-preventable diseases and thereby reduce morbidity and mortality in children. Injections given for immunization are the most usual ground in order to abstract agony or pain, which is the fifth vital sign leading to long-term physically and psychologically detrimental effects. A basic experimental (control group only for post-test) design using the technique of probability of simple random sampling in order to obtain sample size 105 was conducted in an Immunization Clinic at a selected PHC, Tamil Nadu, India. Ice cube was applied for about 30 seconds that is enfolded with gauze and then injected intramuscularly to administer the IM vaccine. In order to assess the pain level, an observation checklist based on Children's Hospital Eastern Ontario pain scale and Wong Baker's Faces pain scale was used. The study results manifest the higher statistical difference in the level of children's pain between the control groups and the experimental groups at a significance level of p<0.001. In order to reduce the pain level, the application of ice at LI-4 acupoint is effective. The children who are being vaccinated pass through stressful events through the application of an intramuscular injection. The findings revealed that ice application at LI-4 acupoint was very effective in pain reduction, which is a simple, safe, non-invasive, very efficient, easy-to-administer intervention and cost-effective without side effects than any other pharmacological pain intervention.
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