The effect of using anesthesia evaporative spray on pain intensity associated with intravenous injection in hospitalized children in Imam Reza Hospital in Sirjan

Background and Objective: Intravenous injection is one of the most common painful invasive procedures in hospitalized children. This study was conducted aimed to determine the effectiveness of using anesthesia evaporative spray on pain intensity associated with intravenous injection in hospitalized children.

 Materials and Method: In this clinical trial study 60 children between 6-12 years old who were hospitalized in Imam Reza Hospital in Sirjan in 2014 were studied. They were selected through convenience sampling and then were randomly assigned into two groups of 30 people. In the intervention group, anesthetic spray evaporation was used 30-40 seconds before intravenous injection and in the control group, the similar spray but containing saline was used. Pain intensity was assessed during the intervention through using the behavioral scale and immediately after the intervention by the visual analog scale. Data analysis was done through SPSS 19 and using central and dispersion indexes and independent t-test.

 Results: The children in intervention group reported less pain intensity than control group in both scales. The mean score of behavioral pain scale and VAS in intervention group was respectively 3.4 ± 1.85 (p = 0.002) and 3.96 ± 2.39 (p = 0.036). 

Conclusion: According to results, using the anesthesia evaporative spray can reduce the pain associated with injection procedures in children. Therefore it is recommended that the evaporative spray used before the intravenous injection in children.