Some drug-free approaches reduced pain during IV placement
A review found lower procedural pain with several approaches, while technology that helped locate veins improved insertion success without a clear pain benefit.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
The review reported that distraction, physical stimulation, and breathing or coughing techniques could reduce discomfort during IV placement in adults. Results depended on the outcome: near-infrared vein visualization improved procedural success but did not significantly change reported pain. Helping a clinician place an IV more successfully does not necessarily mean the procedure feels less painful.
The abstract does not provide pooled effect sizes, detailed quality assessments, or comparative safety data. This abstract-based account cannot determine how large the pain improvements were or rank the approaches.
What researchers found
Pain during peripheral IV placement
Local heat, vibration and thermomechanical stimulation versus standard care during cannulation; effect sizes and pain-scale details were not specified.
A specific procedure
The review covered approaches such as virtual reality, music, local heat, vibration, and breathing techniques. It examined pain during a specific clinical procedure, so its findings do not establish benefits for other kinds of pain.
Success and comfort differ
Pain ratings, anxiety, satisfaction, and successful cannulation were separate outcomes. The vein-visualization result shows why a method can improve how a procedure goes without producing a statistically detectable change in patients' pain.
The original publication
Nonpharmacological Interventions for Pain Relief During Peripheral Venous Cannulation: Implications for Practice.
Romańczuk D, Maruszak A, Lange S et al.
J Clin Med · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41976963
- Record checked
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