venipuncture pain: how to treat it?

Key words: Venipuncture, Pain, Analgesia

Venipuncture, although it is relatively simple and fast, is one of the painful procedures which is most frequently performed on paediatric patients. The pain in this context is present in 50% of children, and has been rated as moderate to severe in 36% of children aged 3 to 6 years and 13% of those aged 7 to 17 years. The response to pain is influenced and shaped by past painful experiences. Infants who have not been adequately treated in regard to procedural analgesia undergo a real conditioning. Considering that pain has two basic components, nociception and suffering, the best approach will be multidisciplinary, based on pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies.