Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Debra Bruene

Project Overview

Children diagnosed with cancer undergo numerous painful procedures associated with diagnosis and treatment.  One source of repeated discomfort and anxiety for all cancer patients is repeated venipuncture pain associated with the need for frequent lab draws, IV placement and port access to receive medicines, have blood studies and needed tests.  A study completed in 2009 found that children reported venipuncture as extremely distressing and the majority felt needle sticks were worse than anything else they could imagine.  These authors stated that children report venipuncture pain as the worst part of their healthcare experience.  It is also important to note that the trauma of medical procedures experienced as a child can affect health in later years. For example, an association has been found between pain during childhood and avoiding healthcare as a young adult.

Currently available medicines to prevent needle pain are often not used for several reasons (length of time required for the medicine to start to work, need for doctor's order, ineffectiveness in some children, difficulty for nursing to obtain).  A new needleless device has shown promise in providing superior pain relief before a needle stick when compared with currently available medicines.  However, which medicine to use with the delivery device to decrease pain the most requires further study.  Children with cancer would suffer less pain and anxiety if a needless method of delivering a medicine, which works immediately and is easily accessible for healthcare providers, could be found to eliminate needle pain.