Will Patients Perceive a Numbing Spray to Be an Effective Method of Anesthetizing an Intravenous Site?

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine if patients would perceive a numbing spray to be an effective method of anesthetizing an intravenous (IV) site. Design A quasi-experimental design was used. Methods The first 50 patients were given no pain management strategy before their IV insertion, and the next 50 patients were given a numbing spray. Findings The hypothesis that pain scores reported from the numbing spray group would be less than pain scores reported from the non-numbing spray group was not supported. Conclusion The numbing spray is an effective method of anesthetizing an IV site based on both groups' responses to the other research questions. Both groups indicated they would try a numbing spray with future IV insertions, would prefer a numbing spray over a numbing injection, and were satisfied with their IV insertion. Patients wanted a less intrusive method than intradermal lidocaine.