Vapocoolant Spray Effectiveness On Arterial Puncture Pain: Randomized Double Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial

Tehran University of Medical Sciences

Status: Completed

Conditions: Puncture Site Pain

Treatments: Drug: Vapocoolant spray; Drug: Water spray

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01860248

TUMS 4341

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study was aimed to compare pain levels from arterial blood gas (ABG) sampling performed with vapocoolant spray in comparison to placebo.

Full description

Previous studies of vapocoolant sprays for reducing pain were mainly on venopuncture with inconsistent results. There was only one prospective open labeled controlled study on arterial blood gas sampling with ethyl chloride which did not show effectiveness. This study will assess the efficacy and tolerability of a topical alkane vapocoolant spray for arterial puncture in adults in comparison to control spray.

Enrollment: 80 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 14+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• age of 14 years or older,
• needs ABG as a part of their diagnosis

Exclusion criteria

• history of analgesic medication used within 24 hours of enrollment,
• any sign of decreased consciousness,
• history of skin hypersensitivity,
• inability to report a pain score,
• history of a known neurological problem that changes pain perception,
• history of cold related reactions (e.g. Raynaud's phenomenon, cold urticaria),
• abnormal Allen's test

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

---

80 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Vapocoolant spray

Experimental group

Description:

Vapocoolant is administered in 20 centimeters distance for 20 seconds to the patients as anesthetic before ABG.

Treatment:

Drug: Vapocoolant spray

Water spray

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

The Patients in this arm will receive water spray as anesthetic before ABG.

Treatment:

Drug: Water spray