Comparing the effects of acupressure at LI4 and BL32 points on intramuscular injection pain

IntroductionThe effectiveness of some acupressure techniques in relieving the acute pain of intramuscular injection pain has been assessed in previous studies. However, the effects of acupressure at LI4 point have still remained unknown. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of acupressure at LI4 and BL32 points on intramuscular injection pain.MethodsThis after-only interventional study was made on 90 women were who referred to the injection unit of the Central Emergency Department, Kashan, Iran, in 2015 for receiving an intramuscular injection of penicillin. The women were randomly allocated to three 30-person groups, namely control, LI4 acupressure, and BL32 acupressure groups. After intramuscular injection of penicillin, the level of intramuscular injection pain of all women was assessed by using a 0-10 visual analog scale. Data were analyzed through doing the Kruskal-Wallis, the Chi-square, and the Fisher's exact tests, and Spearman correlation coefficient.ResultsThe means of pain intensity in the control, LI4 acupressure, and BL32 acupressure groups were 2.76 ± 1.75, 2.33 ± 1.80, and 1.76 ± 2.45, respectively. In other words, the mean pain intensity in the control group was significantly higher than the LI4 and BL32 acupressure groups by 0.43 and 1.0 points, respectively (p = 0.011). Except for educational status, intramuscular injection pain was not significantly correlated with the participants' other demographic characteristics as well as injection time.ConclusionAcupressure can significantly relieve intramuscular injection pain. This simple, cost-effective, and easily applicable therapy can be used in all healthcare settings for relieving intramuscular injection pain.