Comparative Study of the Effect of Lidocaine Spray and Ice Spray on the Pain Intensity During Intramuscular Injection: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

BACKGROUND

Intramuscular injection is one of the most common, invasive, and painful ways to deliver medicine to the body.

AIM

Since one of the nurse's duties is to employ different methods to reduce pain caused by treatment procedures, this study was conducted to determine the effect of lidocaine spray and ice spray on pain intensity at the muscle injection site.

METHOD

A clinical trial was performed on 90 patients presenting to outpatient clinics of Neyshabur hospitals. The samples were selected using a computerized table of random numbers, and each participant was randomly assigned to one of the control, lidocaine spray, and ice spray groups. Pain severity was measured immediately after intramuscular injection using a numerical pain scale. Descriptive statistics along with statistical tests (chi-square, Fisher, etc.) were used to analyze the data in the R environment version 3.6.2. Ordinal logistic regression was used to compare pain intensity in the three groups by adjusting the effect of age variables and sensory disorders.

RESULTS

The mean pain intensity was 3.44 without intervention, 2.63 with lidocaine spray, and 2.27 with ice spray. Statistical tests indicated a significant difference in pain intensity of intramuscular injection between the ice group and the control group (p = .010). Although lidocaine spray reduced the pain intensity, its effect was insignificant compared with the control group.

CONCLUSIONS

Both ice and lidocaine spray can be effectively used to reduce the intensity of intramuscular injection pain; however, it seems that ice spray is a more effective, safe, and affordable method.