• Rukiye Höbek Akarsu, Betül Kuş, and Gökhan Doğukan Akarsu.
• Altern Ther Health Med. 2021 Feb 24.

ContextPeripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) practice is a common invasive procedure used in the diagnosis and treatment of pregnant women admitted to the hospital. Difficulties experienced during PIVC application are among the most common problems encountered in a medical facility.ObjectiveThe study intended to evaluate the effects of the Valsalva maneuver, the application of eutectic mixture of local anesthetics (EMLA) cream, and use of a stress ball in controlling the pain and discomfort that developed due to PIVC administration for pregnant women.DesignThe research team designed the study as a randomized, controlled, single-blind trial.SettingThe research took place at the obstetrics clinic at the Practice and Research Hospital at Yozgat Bozok University in Yozgat, Turkey, between January 2019 and February 2020.ParticipantsParticipants were 120 pregnant women who visited the obstetrics clinic and were admitted to the maternity ward of the hospital during that time.InterventionParticipants were divided into four groups of 30 women each: (1) the Valsalva maneuver group, (2) the EMLA group, receiving an application of the cream, and (3) the stress-ball group, and (4) the control group.Outcome MeasuresData were collected through the use of a pregnancy information form and a visual analog scale. In the assessment of the data, variance analysis was used with the Kruskal Wallis and Dunn test.ResultsOnly the pain scores of the Valsalva maneuver group were found to be significantly lower than those of the control group, whereas the pain scores of the EMLA and stress-ball groups were similar to those of the control group.ConclusionsThe current study can generate awareness in pregnant women in terms of choosing between pharmacological and nonpharmacological practices that nurses use during PIVC insertion. As the only randomized controlled blind study that has been performed on the topic, the current study offers nurses evidence of a way to reduce PIVC pain in pregnant women.

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