The Effect of a Hand Massage on the Physiological Changes Induced by Intravenous Line Insertion in Children Aged Three to Six: A Clinical Trial

The insertion of intravenous (IV) line is one of the most painful procedures in pediatric wards, which can lead to complications such as changes in the physiological parameters of the patient. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of a hand massage on controlling changes in the physiological parameters caused by inserting IV line in children. This clinical trial was conducted in the Surgery Ward of a teaching pediatric hospital in Tabriz between 2016 and 2017. A total of 70 qualified children were enrolled and randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The experimental group underwent massage therapy five minutes before venipuncture until it was completed. Physiological responses of both groups were measured and recorded before and immediately after the intervention. Eventually, the data were analyzed in SPSS version 24 using descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and analytical (independent and paired t-tests) statistics. The results of statistical analysis revealed that the increase in heart rate in response to the pain caused by venipuncture is significantly lower in the massage group than in the control group (P = 0.001). A hand massage is an easy, inexpensive, and practical technique that could be administered along with other pharmaceutical or non-pharmaceutical methods to control physiological responses of pain due to IV line insertion in children.