Passive smoking increases pain perception in children undergoing venous catheterization

Abstract

Aim: To establish whether there is any association between passive smoking and pain perception in children, in the absence of existing studies into possible links.

Methods: This single-centre study focused on 100 children - 50 who had been exposed to passive smoking and 50 who had not - who were admitted to general polyclinics from September 2012 to December 2012 and needed venous catheterization. Patients with chronic diseases, neurologic and psychiatric illnesses, communication problems and analgesic use in the last 24 h were excluded. The passive smoking group had a mean age of 7.3 years (56% male) and the nonpassive smoking group had a mean age of 7.7 years (44% male). The main study parameter was the Wong-Baker faces pain rating scale (WBFPS) score during catheterization.

Results: There was a statistically significant difference between the pain perceptions of the 100 children studied and smoke exposure. The WBFPS scores of the 50 children who were passive smokers were significantly higher than the scores of the 50 who were not passive smokers (p = 0.00).

Conclusion: Passive smoking increases pain perception in children during invasive medical procedures.

Keywords: Catheterization; Children; Cigarette; Pain perception; Wong-Baker faces pain rating scale.