Procedural PainNCT07740837
Fan-Assisted Local Cooling for Pain During Intravenous Cannulation in Adults
A study testing Fan-assisted local cooling and Standard alcohol skin preparation in people with Procedural Pain and Acute Pain, run by Antalya Health Sciences University at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye).
Trial 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. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 65 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Procedural Pain, Acute Pain, Peripheral Intravenous Catheterization
- What is being tested?
- Fan-assisted local cooling and Standard alcohol skin preparation
- Type of treatment
- Injection or infusion
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 100 participants
- Where
- 1 siteTurkey (Türkiye)
- Study dates
- 15 Sep 2025to 1 Feb 2026
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 65 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Age 18 to 65 years
- Scheduled peripheral intravenous cannulation at the antecubital region
- Written informed consent provided
Who cannot join
- 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
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
Official title: Effect of Fan-Assisted Local Cooling on Pain During Intravenous Cannulation in Adults: A Prospective, Crossover, Randomised Controlled Trial
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.
Read more
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.
Read the detailed description
A pre-planned pilot substudy was conducted under the same ethics committee approval in an independent sample of 20 adult volunteers who were not enrolled in the main trial. Antecubital skin temperature was measured with a non-contact infrared thermometer held at a fixed distance of 3 cm, immediately before and immediately after the 15-second fan-assisted alcohol application, to verify that the intervention produces the evaporative cooling proposed as its analgesic mechanism.
- Being tested
- Fan-assisted local cooling, Standard alcohol skin preparation
- Keywords
- venipuncture pain, intravenous cannulation, local cooling, alcohol evaporation, hand fan, non-pharmacological analgesia, emergency department, crossover trial, Cold Temperature, Cryotherapy
- Medical subject headings
- Pain, Procedural, Acute Pain, Emergencies
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Fan-assisted local coolingOther
Also called Evaporative cooling with hand fan, Fan-assisted alcohol evaporation, Evaporative cooling with portable hand fan
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.
Standard alcohol skin preparationOther
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.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| 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. Receives: 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. Receives: Other: Fan-assisted local cooling; Other: Standard alcohol skin preparation |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
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.
Measured: Day 1: within 30 seconds after completion of each cannulation
Secondary outcomes (3)
First-attempt cannulation success
Successful cannulation with a single skin puncture and without catheter repositioning, confirmed by free blood return and unobstructed saline flow. Compared between arms with the McNemar test for paired binary data.
Measured: Day 1: at the time of each cannulation attempt
Skin irritation at the cannulation site
Presence and grade of skin irritation at the cannulation site, assessed by clinical examination.
Measured: Day 1: 5 minutes and 30 minutes after cannulation
Participant satisfaction with the procedure
Participants rated their overall satisfaction with the fan-assisted (intervention) method on a single 0 to 10 scale, where 0 indicates not satisfied at all and 10 indicates completely satisfied. Higher scores indicate greater satisfaction.
Measured: Day 1: immediately after completion of both cannulations
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted3 Aug 2026
- Study start15 Sep 2025
- Primary completion1 Feb 2026
- Study completion1 Feb 2026
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Procedural PainStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Supportive care
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Crossover
- Model description
- 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.
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 100 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Antalya Health Sciences University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Taha Yaşar Kiraz, MD, Principal investigator, Antalya City Hospital
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07740837
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 98/2025
- Status last verified
- Jul 2026
- First submitted
- 28 Jul 2026
- Last updated
- 4 Aug 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: De-identified individual participant data underlying the published results (pain scores, first-attempt success, satisfaction, and skin irritation) will be made available to qualified researchers following approval of a methodologically sound proposal.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 4 Aug 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Effect of Fan-Assisted Local Cooling on Pain During Intravenous Cannulation in Adults: A Prospective, Crossover, Randomised Controlled Trial
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07740837
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 98/2025
- Keywords
- venipuncture pain, intravenous cannulation, local cooling, alcohol evaporation, hand fan, non-pharmacological analgesia, emergency department, crossover trial
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 100 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Antalya Health Sciences UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 15 Sep 2025 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 1 Feb 2026 (actual)
- Study completion
- 1 Feb 2026 (actual)
- First posted
- 3 Aug 2026 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
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.
Detailed description
A pre-planned pilot substudy was conducted under the same ethics committee approval in an independent sample of 20 adult volunteers who were not enrolled in the main trial. Antecubital skin temperature was measured with a non-contact infrared thermometer held at a fixed distance of 3 cm, immediately before and immediately after the 15-second fan-assisted alcohol application, to verify that the intervention produces the evaporative cooling proposed as its analgesic mechanism.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Supportive care
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Crossover
- Masking
- Single blind (outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- 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.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Sequence A: Fan-assisted cooling first | Experimental | Other: Fan-assisted local cooling, Other: Standard alcohol skin preparationParticipants 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. |
| Sequence B: Standard preparation first | Experimental | Other: Fan-assisted local cooling, Other: Standard alcohol skin preparationParticipants 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. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 65 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Age 18 to 65 years
- Scheduled peripheral intravenous cannulation at the antecubital region
- Written informed consent provided
Key exclusion criteria (7 listed)
- 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
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Fan-assisted local coolingAlso: Evaporative cooling with hand fan, Fan-assisted alcohol evaporation, Evaporative cooling with portable hand fanThe 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. | Other | Sequence A: Fan-assisted cooling first, Sequence B: Standard preparation first |
| Standard alcohol skin preparationThe 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. | Other | Sequence A: Fan-assisted cooling first, Sequence B: Standard preparation first |
Primary outcome
Pain intensity during intravenous cannulation
Time frame: Day 1: within 30 seconds after completion of each 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.
3 secondary outcomes
First-attempt cannulation success
Time frame: Day 1: at the time of each cannulation attempt
Skin irritation at the cannulation site
Time frame: Day 1: 5 minutes and 30 minutes after cannulation
Participant satisfaction with the procedure
Time frame: Day 1: immediately after completion of both cannulations
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 4 Aug 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. De-identified individual participant data underlying the published results (pain scores, first-attempt success, satisfaction, and skin irritation) will be made available to qualified researchers following approval of a methodologically sound proposal.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Taha Yaşar Kiraz, MD principal investigator
Antalya City Hospital
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Fan-assisted local cooling and Standard alcohol skin preparation in people with Procedural Pain and Acute Pain, run by Antalya Health Sciences University at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye).
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 7 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 4 Aug 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye). Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Pain intensity during intravenous cannulation (time frame: Day 1: within 30 seconds after completion of each cannulation). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 4 Aug 2026.