Reducing vaccination pain using a multidermatomal or deltoid region buzzy® applications versus control: A randomized controlled study
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Updated: Jan 13, 2026
Intralymphatic Immunotherapy and Vaccination in Mice
Published on: February 2, 2014
Selda Ates Besirik1, Mehmet Alperen Turgut2, Nejla Canbulat Sahiner3
1Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Bucak School of Health, Department of Nursing, Department of Pediatric Nursing, Burdur, Türkiye.
Background:
Pain with injections negatively affects children and their parents and may contribute to vaccine refusal. A cold and vibration device shown to reduce immunization pain when placed in the nerve pathway proximal to the injection may be more effective when placed medially activating multiple dermatomes.
Aim:
This study aimed to compare the effects of the multidermatomal and deltoid region applications of the Buzzy® device versus control on immunization pain.
Methods:
This prospective randomized controlled study. This study was conducted with 90 13-year-olds who met the inclusion criteria and were scheduled for Td (adult diphtheria-tetanus) vaccinations. The children were randomly divided into the multidermatomal placement group, the deltoid region group, and the control group. The Interview and Observation Form and the Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale (0-10) were used to collect data. The Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale was administrated to and filled out by the children, their parents, and the observers. Descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Kruskal-Wallis, and Pearson's Chi-Squared were used to analyze the data with significance at p < 0.05.
Findings:
The pain reported with multidermatomal Buzzy application (0.33±0.75) was significantly lower than deltoid Buzzy placement (1.86±1.57), which was significantly lower than control group pain(5.06±1.14)(p < 0.001). With multidermatomal placement, the injection was painless for 25/30 compared to 1/30 in the control group, relative risk of pain of 0.0069(95 %CI 0.0008-0.0630), p < 0.0001.
Conclusions:
Multidermatomal application of cold and vibration during vaccine administration to children is more effective than deltoid application for pain relief and was painless over 80 % of the time.
Practice Implications:
The Buzzy® device in either a single dermatome (deltoid) or multiple dermatomes were effective in reducing pain associated with the injection of the Td vaccine to 13-year-old children.
Clinical Trial Registration Number:
Registered on https://clinicaltrials.gov/ (NCT06566378).
