Pain Intensity after an Ice Pack Application Prior to Venipuncture among School-Age Children: An Experimental Study

Venipuncture and other invasive procedures as blood draws, intramuscular injections or heel pricks are the most commonly performed painful procedures in children. These can be a terrifying and painful experience for children and their families. The present study aimed to identify Pain intensity after an ice pack application prior to venipuncture among school-age children. Fifty (50) school-age children aged from 6-12 years whom ordered to vein-puncture were included in the study, and they are chosen by simple random sample from the pediatric medical, surgical wards and pediatric emergency department in King Fahd Hospital of the University (KFUH) at the Al-Khobar city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They divided equally into 2 groups, the study group who received an ice pack application for three minutes prior to venipuncture procedure over the insertion site while the control group received routine hospital care. A structured interview questionnaire sheet was used included age, gender, venipuncture procedure data and log table for recorded child's blood pressure, pulse rate and oxygen saturation as well as Wong-Baker (FACES) Self- report Pain Rating Scale, to assess pain intensity during the venipuncture among children in both groups. Results of the study revealed that, during venipuncture procedure, mean self-report pain score was lower among children in the study group than those in the control group with statistically significant difference, Mean ±SD (1.92±0.316 and 4.40±0.490) respectively P<0.001. Self-reported pain intensity was decreased in older school-age children than the younger ones and was higher among male's children than females. The study concluded that the application of an ice pack prior to vein puncture procedure was effective in reducing pain intensity among school age children and it recommended that application of an ice pack has to be a part of the routine care of all children admitted to venipuncture procedure, so educational course related the ice back storage, uses and its application time over the vein puncture site should be conducted.