Kharouba Johnny, Berman Gal, Elbaharay Shlomo, Kaplan Neta, Efremenko Izabella, Blumer Sigalit
Department of Pediatric Dentistry, The Maurice and Gabriela Goldschlager School of Dental Medicine, The Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel.
Endodontics Department, The Maurice and Gabriela Goldschlager School of Dental Medicine, The Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel.
J Clin Med. 2023 Oct 29;12(21):6825. doi: 10.3390/jcm12216825.
Local anesthetic injections are an essential tool in dentistry, particularly in pediatric dentistry. The needle penetrating the tissue can cause stress, anxiety, and pain. Studies have shown that using touch may alleviate pain and reduce patient anxiety. Yet, this has not been tested in pediatric dental patients. Therefore, this study examined the effect of hand-holding on children undergoing local anesthetic injections. Its effect on children's pain perception was tested, with the hypothesis that pain perception would be lower for children whose hand was held by an assistant. Additionally, the study examined whether hand-holding would affect children's anxiety levels and cooperation. Fifty-five children, who underwent dental treatment within the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at Tel Aviv University, were recruited. The patients were randomly divided into two groups. In the study group, the assistant gently placed her hand on the patient's hand during the anesthetic injection. In the control group, the same treatment was performed without the hand being placed by the assistant. After the anesthetic injection, the child's pain and anxiety levels were assessed using visual analog scales (VAS). The patients' pulse was measured. The level of cooperation was evaluated using the "Frankl" scale. Interestingly, although the trends aligned with this study's hypotheses, no significant effect of hand-holding on pain, anxiety, or cooperation during anesthetic injections was found.
局部麻醉注射是牙科尤其是儿童牙科的一项重要手段。穿刺组织的针头会引发压力、焦虑和疼痛。研究表明，触摸可能减轻疼痛并降低患者焦虑。然而，这尚未在儿童牙科患者中得到验证。因此，本研究探讨了在接受局部麻醉注射的儿童中握住其手的效果。测试了其对儿童疼痛感知的影响，假设是助手握住手的儿童疼痛感知会更低。此外，该研究还考察了握住手是否会影响儿童的焦虑水平与合作情况。招募了55名在特拉维夫大学儿童牙科接受治疗的儿童。患者被随机分为两组。在研究组中，助手在麻醉注射期间轻轻将手放在患者手上。在对照组中，进行相同治疗但助手不把手放上去。麻醉注射后，使用视觉模拟量表（VAS）评估儿童的疼痛和焦虑水平。测量患者的脉搏。使用“弗兰克尔”量表评估合作程度。有趣的是，尽管趋势与本研究的假设一致，但未发现握住手对麻醉注射期间的疼痛、焦虑或合作有显著影响。
