The effectiveness of acupressure on intramuscular injection pain

Intra muscular (IM) injection is a painful rout for drug administration. Acupressure or Shiatsu is a method for decreasing pain and anxiety. In this clinical trial study, the effectiveness of acupressure in reduction of IM injection pain was assessed in patients referring to Emergency Center No. 1 in Kashan city. It was a single blind cross over clinical trial in which the patients with two injections of the same drug were compared. One injection was followed by application of acupressure and the other without it. The numerical visual analogue scale from 0 to 10 was used for pain measurement. The average pain score was 5 without acupressure and 3 with it (p<0.001). The mean pain reduction score with acupressure was 2.5. The acupressure technique was significantly more effective in male than in female (p<0.001). Age had significant reverse relationship with pain sensation. It seems that acupressure can effectively reduce the pain induced by IM injections.