RESUMEN
Venipuncture is one of the most painful procedures in hospitalized children and reducing the pain is an important aim of nursing interventions. This study was designed to compare effectiveness of EMLA cream and local refrigeration on reducing venipuncture-related pain in hospitalized children in Children's Medical Center. An interventional study was conducted with 90 hospitalized children ranging in age from 3 to 12 years old who had venipuncture in urology unit of Children's Medical Center. They were randomly allocated in three groups of intervention with EMLA cream, intervention with local refrigeration, and nonintervention groups. The first two groups received the interventions prior to venipuncture. Pain intensity was measured after venipuncture through FACES, a self-report scale and CHEOPS scale for Nurse's observations. All statistics were computed using the SPSS software, using parametric and nonparametric statistical tests, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The mean and standard deviation of pain intensity scores based on FACES scale in EMLA, local refrigeration and control groups were 3.26 +/- 2.79, 8.23 +/- 2.39 and 7.06 +/- 2.27, respectively. The corresponding values for CHEOPS scale were 7.40 +/- 2.15, 4.26 +/- 2.81 and 9.35 +/- 2.17. The between groups difference was statistically significant according to both scales [p<0.00] EMLA and local refrigeration significantly reduced the venipuncture-related pain, compared to controls. There was no significant difference between EMLA and refrigeration groups in reducing the pain. Both refrigeration and EMLA are effective on reducing venipuncture-related pain in children. So, refrigeration, as a non pharmacological, cost effective, and available method, is recommended to manage procedural pain in pediatric patients
RESUMEN
To date no product is available that have all the desirable properties of an ideal resilient material. Therefore, it is necessary to determine certain physical and mechanical properties of new soft liner materials that are introduced in the market. The aim of this study was to investigate several properties of Acropars compared to Molloplast B. Two groups of permanent resilient liner materials, a heat cured acrylic copolymer [Acropars; Marlik Medical Inc., Iran] and silicone based rubber [Molloplast B; Detax Ettlingern, Germany], were tested for hardness, elongation percentage, tensile and tear strengths.Ten dumbbell-shaped specimens were fabricated for each test group according to ASTM-D412 [Die-c] and ASTM-D638 [type 4] standards. The universal testing machine was used to test all specimens for tensile strength, elongation percentage. Ten cylinder shaped specimens of 31x10 mm [in diameter and height] were prepared for hardness test. This test was conducted, using a shore-A hardness instrument, according to ASTM-D2240 standards. Also the standard test method of ASTM-D624 for tear resistance of rubber material was performed. Ten bar shaped specimens of 60x10x2 mm, with a 45 degrees notch 6 mm in width on lower side were prepared. All specimens were forced to failure using a universal testing machine. All specimens were stored at room temperature for 40 hours before testing process started. The mean group differences and student-t test at alpha= 0.05 were used for statistical data analysis. Acropars showed statistically significant greater mean tensile strength [P<0.0001], tear strength [P<0.0001] and hardness [P<0. 0001] compared to Molloplast B. In addition Molloplast B showed a significant higher elongation percentage. [Pv<0.001] Within the limits of the present study, it was demonstrated that Acropars had higher tensile and tear strength, but harder than Molloplast- B