Double blind randomized control trial to evaluate the efficacy of ketoprofen patch to attenuate pain during venous cannulation.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Venipuncture pain is an uncomfortable suffering to the patient. It creates anxiety, fear and dissatisfaction. The ketoprofen transdermal patch is a proven treatment for musculoskeletal and arthritic pain. We planned this study to evaluate the efficacy of the ketoprofen patch to reduce venipuncture pain.

METHODS:

Two hundred adult patients, aged 18-60 years, of either sex, ASA grade I or II, were enrolled. Presuming that therapy would decrease venipuncture pain by 30%, a power calculation with α = 0.05 and β = 0.80 required enrollment of at least 24 patients into each group. However, 100 patients in each group were recruited. Group I (Control) received a placebo patch; Group II (Ketoprofen) received a 20 mg ketoprofen patch. A selected vein on the dorsum of the patient's non-dominant hand was cannulated with 18 g intravenous cannula 1 h after the application of the respective patch. Assessment of pain was done by a 10 cm visual analogue scale (VAS) of 0-10, where 0 depicts "no pain" and 10 is "the worst imaginable pain". The venipuncture site was assessed for the presence of skin erythema, swelling and rashes at 12 h, 24 h and at the time of decannulation.

RESULTS:

Incidence of pain was 100% (94/94) in the control group as compared to 93% (85/91) in the ketoprofen group. The severity of the venipuncture pain was 6 (2) and 2 (2) for control and ketoprofen groups respectively (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS:

Application of a ketoprofen patch at the proposed site of venipuncture one hour before the attempt is effective and safe for attenuating venipuncture pain.

• Authors: Sanjay Kumar, Omprakash Sanjeev, Anil Agarwal, Chetna Shamshery, Rakhi Gupta
• Journal: The Korean journal of pain (Korean J Pain) Vol. 31 Issue 1 Pg. 39-42 (Jan 2018) ISSN: 2005-9159 [Print] Korea (South)
• PMID: 29372024 (Publication Type: Journal Article)