Effectiveness of acupressure to reduce pain in intramuscular injections

Summary 

Background

Acupressure is a massage technique which can induce relaxation. The effectiveness of acupressure to reduce pain in intramuscular injection was studied in this research.

Methods

It was a crossover single blind experimental design. The patients who were prescribed penicillin for at least two daily doses were included in the study. Each subject received an injection with acupressure applied to one buttock and an injection without acupressure to the other buttock or vice versa. The two conditions were randomly allocated. The perception of pain was measured on a visual analogue scale.

Results

Sixty-four patients were recruited into the study. Thirty-two (50%) were female. The mean age was 28±9.9 years old. Fifty patients were injected with penicillin 6.3.3 (78%) and 14 patients received penicillin G plus procaine (22%). The mean score for perceived pain intensity for the acupressure injection was 3±2 and the mean score for the injection without acupressure was 5±2. The result showed that the perceived pain intensity was at average 2.5 lower in the acupressure group comparing to ordinary injection (P<0.000).

Conclusions

According to findings the acupressure can reduce the pain of intramuscular injection.

Keywords: Acupressure, Pain, Intramuscular injection