Fan-Assisted Local Cooling for Pain During Intravenous Cannulation in Adults

NCT07740837 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 98/2025
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 100
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Inserting an intravenous (IV) cannula is one of the most frequently performed procedures in clinical practice, and it is commonly experienced as painful. Before the needle is inserted, the skin is routinely cleaned with alcohol. As alcohol evaporates it cools the skin, and cooled skin is less sensitive to pain. This study examined whether accelerating that evaporation with a simple portable hand fan reduces the pain of IV cannulation. One hundred volunteers aged 18 to 65 years who required elective IV cannulation took part in the emergency department of a tertiary care city hospital. Each participant underwent two cannulations, one in each arm, within a single session. On one arm the skin was prepared with 70% isopropyl alcohol in the usual way. On the other arm the same alcohol was applied and the site was then fanned for 15 seconds with a portable hand fan before the needle was inserted. The order of the two arms was assigned randomly, so each participant served as their own comparison. Within 30 seconds of each cannulation, participants rated their pain on a 0 to 10 numeric scale. The assessor who recorded these scores did not know which arm had received the fan. The researchers also recorded whether the vein was entered on the first attempt, any skin irritation at 5 and 30 minutes, and, after both cannulations were completed, how satisfied participants were with the fan-assisted method. The purpose of the study was to determine whether this low-cost, drug-free method can make IV cannulation less painful without making it harder to place the cannula.

Conditions

Acute Pain; Peripheral Intravenous Catheterization; Procedural Pain

Keywords

venipuncture pain; intravenous cannulation; local cooling; alcohol evaporation; hand fan; non-pharmacological analgesia; emergency department; crossover trial; Cold Temperature; Cryotherapy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Pain intensity during intravenous cannulation

  Self-reported pain intensity during needle insertion, measured with the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) ranging from 0 to 10, where 0 indicates no pain and 10 indicates the worst imaginable pain. Higher scores indicate greater pain. Each participant provided one score for the fan-assisted arm and one score for the standard preparation arm.

  Day 1: within 30 seconds after completion of each cannulation

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• First-attempt cannulation success

  Day 1: at the time of each cannulation attempt

• Skin irritation at the cannulation site

  Day 1: 5 minutes and 30 minutes after cannulation

• Participant satisfaction with the procedure

  Day 1: immediately after completion of both cannulations

Study Arms (2)

Sequence A: Fan-assisted cooling first

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants randomised to the AB sequence first underwent intravenous cannulation on the right arm, where the site was prepared with 70% isopropyl alcohol followed by 15 seconds of fan-assisted local cooling, and then underwent cannulation on the left arm with standard alcohol preparation alone. A minimum washout period of 5 minutes separated the two cannulations.

Other: Fan-assisted local cooling; Other: Standard alcohol skin preparation

Sequence B: Standard preparation first

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants randomised to the BA sequence first underwent intravenous cannulation on the right arm with standard alcohol preparation alone, and then underwent cannulation on the left arm, where the site was prepared with 70% isopropyl alcohol followed by 15 seconds of fan-assisted local cooling. A minimum washout period of 5 minutes separated the two cannulations.

Other: Fan-assisted local cooling; Other: Standard alcohol skin preparation

Interventions

Fan-assisted local cooling OTHER

The cannulation site was cleaned with 2 mL of 70% isopropyl alcohol as part of standard aseptic preparation, immediately followed by 15 seconds of fanning with a portable hand fan (medium setting, airflow approximately 3 m/s) directed at the site from a distance of 10 to 15 cm, timed with a stopwatch. Cannulation was then performed with a standard 20G catheter in the antecubital fossa by a single emergency nurse with at least two years of experience. In both arms 70% isopropyl alcohol was used as routine aseptic preparation; the arms differed only in the addition of forced-air fanning.

Also known as: Evaporative cooling with hand fan, Fan-assisted alcohol evaporation, Evaporative cooling with portable hand fan

Sequence A: Fan-assisted cooling first; Sequence B: Standard preparation first

Standard alcohol skin preparation OTHER

The skin over the selected vein was cleaned with 70% isopropyl alcohol and allowed to dry passively, without fanning, before needle insertion. This represents routine institutional practice and served as the comparator condition.

Sequence A: Fan-assisted cooling first; Sequence B: Standard preparation first

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Age 18 to 65 years
• Scheduled peripheral intravenous cannulation at the antecubital region
• Written informed consent provided

You may not qualify if:

• Severe peripheral vascular disease (chronic venous insufficiency or history of thrombophlebitis)
• Alcohol intolerance or allergy
• Active dermatological disease (eczema, psoriasis, contact dermatitis)
• Neuropathic disease that may alter pain perception
• Analgesic use within the previous 6 hours
• Existing pain with NRS score of 4 or higher
• Refusal to provide consent

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Antalya Health Sciences University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Antalya City Hospital

Antalya, 07080, Turkey (Türkiye)

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Pain, Procedural; Acute Pain; Emergencies

Interventions

Ethanol

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Disease Attributes; Pathologic Processes

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Alcohols; Organic Chemicals

Study Officials

• Taha Yaşar Kiraz, MD

  Antalya City Hospital

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Blinding of participants and the operator was not possible owing to the nature of the intervention. The assessor who recorded outcome measures was blinded to which arm was the intervention arm.
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Within-subject (paired) AB/BA crossover: each participant received both conditions on contralateral arms within a single session. Sequence denotes which arm was treated first.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 28, 2026
• First Posted: August 3, 2026
• Study Start: September 15, 2025
• Primary Completion: February 1, 2026
• Study Completion: February 1, 2026
• Last Updated: August 4, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, ICF
• Time Frame: Beginning 6 months after publication of the main results and ending 5 years thereafter.
• Access Criteria: Requests should be directed to the corresponding author and will be assessed on the basis of the scientific merit of the proposal. Data will be shared after approval and completion of a data sharing agreement.

Locations

TU (1)