Published 10 February 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.a2993
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:a2993

Editorials

Minimising pain during intravenous cannulation

Several options exist, but none has a strong evidence base

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Cannulation causes moderate or severe pain in a substantial number of children and adults. Some institutions have procedures for minimising the predictable pain of cannulation, especially in children. However, a survey from the United States reported that emergency departments rarely use drugs to reduce pain during insertion of intravenous catheters in children.1 In less predictable situations, such as emergency departments, non-pharmacological alternatives, like distraction, may be more appropriate. A recent review of pharmacological interventions to reduce the pain of cannulation in children highlights the increasing number of options, and the complexity of deciding which one to choose in a particular situation.2

In the linked randomised controlled trial (doi:10.1136/bmj.b215), Hijazi and colleagues assess the effect of vapocoolant spray during intravenous cannulation in 201 adults in an emergency department.3 Vapocoolant spray significantly reduced moderate or severe cannulation pain compared with water spray (32% v 60%; P<0.001).

Despite these positive results, . . . [Full text of this article]

Andrew Moore, senior research fellow, Sebastian Straube, academic foundation year 2 doctor, Henry McQuay, Nuffield professor of clinical anaesthetics

1 Pain Research and Nuffield Department of Anaesthetics, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU

andrew.moore@nda.ox.ac.uk


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