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Evaluating the effect of using anti-stress balls as a distraction technique in reducing pain during inferior alveolar nerve block injection: a randomized clinical trial

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Abstract

Objective

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of using anti-stress balls in reducing patients’ pain during injection of the inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB).

Materials and methods

In this randomized clinical trial, 32 individuals were divided into two groups. The conventional method of anesthesia injection was performed using IANB conventional injection technique. During the injection, individuals in the anti-stress ball group were asked to use the anti-stress ball as a distraction technique. For the control group, no supersede methods were used for pain control. Finally, both groups were asked to record their pain utilizing the numerical rating scale (NRS). The participants’ vital signs were monitored before and after injection. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, independent T-test, and Fisher’s exact chi-square test were performed for statistical analysis (α = 0.05).

Results

Sixteen females and 16 males in the age range of 40 to 20 years old participated in this study. The mean pain score in the anti-stress ball group was significantly lower (p < 0.001). In both sexes, the pain score in the anti-stress ball group was significantly lower (males p < 0.001 and females p = 0.001). In addition, in all age ranges, the pain score in the control group was higher except for the above 35 years old participants (p = 0.078). Moreover, there were no significant differences in individuals’ vital signs (p > 0.05).

Conclusion and clinical relevance

Utilizing an anti-stress ball reduces patients’ pain significantly during IANB in both sexes and individuals who are below 35 years without changing vital signs.

Clinical registration number

IRCT20220815055704N1

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Data Availability

The datasets analyzed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

The present study was funded by Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences (6735) and was performed as a partial requirement for obtaining DDS degree.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Dental Implants Research Center, Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Parisa Soltani

  2. Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences, University of Naples “Federico II”, 80131, Naples, Italy

    Parisa Soltani, Sandro Rengo & Gianrico Spagnuolo

  3. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Dental Research Center, School of Dentistry, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

    Amirhossein Moaddabi

  4. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, School of Dentistry, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

    Mohammad Koochek Dezfuli

  5. Sari, Iran

    Soodeh Ebrahimikiyasari

  6. Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Health, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

    Abolfazl Hosseinnataj

  7. Dental Students’ Research Committee, School of Dentistry, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Kioumars Tavakoli Tafti

Authors
  1. Parisa Soltani
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  2. Amirhossein Moaddabi
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  3. Mohammad Koochek Dezfuli
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  4. Soodeh Ebrahimikiyasari
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  5. Abolfazl Hosseinnataj
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  6. Sandro Rengo
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  7. Kioumars Tavakoli Tafti
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  8. Gianrico Spagnuolo
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Contributions

Parisa Soltani: conceptualization; methodology; project administration; data curation; methodology; validation; writing original draft; review and editing. Amirhossein Moaddabi: conceptualization; funding acquisition; supervision; methodology; writing original draft; review and editing. Mohammad Koochek Dezfuli: conceptualization; visualization; writing original draft; review and editing. Soodeh Ebrahimikiyasari: data curation; software; writing original draft; review and editing. Abolfazl Hosseinnataj: formal analysis; software; writing original draft; review and editing. Sandro Rengo: conceptualization; writing original draft; review and editing. Kioumars Tavakoli Tafti: conceptualization; methodology; validation; formal analysis; writing original draft; review and editing. Gianrico Spagnuolo: methodology; writing original draft; review and editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amirhossein Moaddabi.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval

All procedures followed were in accordance with the principles stated in the Declaration of Helsinki “Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects,” adopted by the 18th World Medical Assembly, Helsinki, Finland, June 1964, and as amended most recently by the 64th World Medical Assembly, Fortaleza, Brazil, October 2013. All procedures performed in the present study were approved by the Ethical Committee of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences (#4.1400.REC.MAZUMS.IR).

Informed consent

Patients included in the study were informed before the examination, and an Informed Consent Form was signed by all participants.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Soltani, P., Moaddabi, A., Koochek Dezfuli, M. et al. Evaluating the effect of using anti-stress balls as a distraction technique in reducing pain during inferior alveolar nerve block injection: a randomized clinical trial. Clin Oral Invest 27, 4653–4658 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-023-05091-2

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