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Updated: Jan 13, 2026

Intralymphatic Immunotherapy and Vaccination in Mice
Published on: February 2, 2014
Reducing vaccination pain using a multidermatomal or deltoid region buzzy® applications versus control: A randomized
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).

