Prevention of venipuncture pain in children: a comparative study of topical anesthetics

Abstract

Background: The ideal topical anesthetic to prevent venipuncture pain should have high efficacy, a quick effect, a good safety profile, be easy to apply, low cost, and well accepted. Objective: To compare the effectiveness of 5 topical anesthetics in children who require venipuncture. Methodology: A randomized controlled study was conducted involving 350 children (6-17 years) who were randomly allocated to 5 groups. Pain was assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (0 to 10 cm). Between-group differences were analyzed using the Chi-square test and the Kruskal-Wallis test and within-group differences were analyzed using the Wilcoxon test. Results: All anesthetics were effective in preventing pain (mean pain intensity ≤1.1) and no between-group differences were found (p > 0.05). Ease of venous access, vein visibility and/or palpability, successful cannulation, and the child’s cooperation were good and similar between groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The differences between topical anesthetics were only significant in the procedures required for their application and the costs, for which reason the use of ethyl chloride should be reconsidered.