Effect of Valsalva Maneuver on Pain Perception among Adult Patients Undergoing Spinal Procedures

Abstract

In a healthcare setting, procedure pain is a common source of discomfort for patients. One of the non-pharmacological approaches for reducing severe pain is the Valsalva Maneuver (VM). VM also significantly minimizes the pain produced by skin puncturing during spinal injection. This study was conducted to assess the effect of Valsalva maneuver on pain perception among adult patients undergoing spinal procedures. A quasi- experimental, with posttest only control group design was adopted for this study. Fifty adult patients who were selected using the convenient sampling technique and were taught about the VM procedure by blowing into sphygmomanometer tubing and hold the mercury line up to 30 mm Hg for a period of minimum 20 seconds. The numeric rating scale (NRS) was used immediately after the spinal puncture. The results indicates that there is statistically significant reduction in pain among patients who performed VM (p=0.001). The study concludes that the VM can be included routine protocol to reduce pain during any procedures.