The effect of air-lock technique on pain at the site of intramuscular injection

OBJECTIVES To investigate the effects of air-lock technique (ALT) on pain of intramuscular (IM) injection delivered to the ventrogluteal and dorsogluteal site (DS). METHODS A randomized controlled trial design was used to assess the pain intensity associated with IM injections administered using 2 different methods and injection sites. Recruitment of patients was carried out between April and August 2013 at the Department of Brain Surgery, Cekirge State Hospital, Bursa, Turkey. The sample comprised 60 patients who developed no complications at the IM site, and had no illness that could affect their perception of pain. The patients were randomly divided into 2 groups of 30 patients. Patients in the first group received injections in the ventrogluteal site (VS), while the DS was used for injections in the second group. Patients in each group received 2 injections, one using ALT and one not using the technique. After each injection, the pain felt by patients during the injection was immediately assessed using a visual analog scale. RESULTS The mean pain score after injections to the DS by the ALT was 3.30 ± 2.70, while the mean pain score after injections to the VS using the same technique was 2.53 ± 2.52. CONCLUSION Although the difference between groups was not significant, the results of the study supported the idea that injections delivered to the VS by ALT are less painful than those delivered to the DS.