Pain and complications during ventrogluteal injection in standing versus lying positions in women: a quasi-experimental crossover study.

Abstract

Background: There is limited evidence comparing differences in pain experienced during ventrogluteal (VG) muscular injections between the standing and lying-down positions. This study aims to compare pain and complications during VG injection (VGI) in standing versus lying positions in women.

Methods: The study utilised a quasi-experimental design, a sample size (n = 48), a crossover design and a 2-week interval between injections. The first VG intramuscular injection (IMI) site was administered according to the patient's preference for position. After the IMIs, the patients' pain and complication levels were assessed. Descriptive statistics and odds were used to evaluate the data. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05.

Results: A paired design was used to compute the difference in visual analogue scale (VAS) scores in standing and lying positions. The difference between the mean pain in the standing position and lying position was -0.76 with CI = (-1.24, -0.27) and p-value = 0.0012, indicating a significant pain decrease in the standing position with odds = 3.67 and 95% CI (1.64, 8.25). The mean VAS scores (standing: 1.10; lying: 1.86) were obtained for the clinical context.

Conclusions: This research suggests that the standing position may be a method for administering VGIs to reduce patient-perceived pain.