Pain Relief
Conditions
Keywords
Procedural pain, Phlebotomy, Distraction, Videogame, Computer tablet, Child
Brief summary
Venipuncture is one of the painful procedures most frequently performed in children. Pain and distress management in children, during needle related procedures, is warranted. The base for pain management starts with behavioural and environmental support and distraction. Distraction is a cognitive strategy trying to divert the child's attention from a noxious stimulus. Active distraction involves the child in a different performance, e.g. playing, during pain procedures. Passive distraction redirects the child's attention to visual or auditory stimuli using toys, songs, movies or blowing bubbles. Blood-drawing centre is a peculiar setting in which many procedures have to be performed in a limited time. Patients usually arrive without a pharmacological premedication and go away immediately after procedure. In this context distraction is an excellent pain relief tool. The aim of the study is to compare the effectiveness of an active distraction (playing a videogame using a computer tablet) with a passive distraction technique in pain relief during venipuncture in a blood-drawing centre.
Interventions
OTHERActive distraction using a tablet
Playing a videogame using a computer tablet
OTHERPassive distraction
A nurses singing a song, reading a book, blowing bubbles and playing a puppet show
Sponsors
IRCCS Burlo Garofolo
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
4 Years to 13 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Age 4 to 13 years * Need for venipuncture * Informed consent signed by parents or legal guardians
Exclusion criteria
* Children with epilepsy * Use of topical, enteral or parenteral analgesics within 8 hours before the procedure * Inability to perform venipuncture on hand or arm * Children with cognitive impairment or unable to report their pain verbally
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Pain score recorded by the Faces Pain Scale-Revised (FPS-R) | Intraprocedural (an average of 5 minutes) | The pain during the procedure will be evaluated using the self-reported FPS-R scale |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Success at first attempt | Intraprocedural (an average of 5 minutes) | Percentage of success at first attempt |
| Adverse events | Up to 15 minutes after the procedure | The number and the type of adverse events will be recorded |
Countries
Italy
Outcome results
None listed