The Effect of Breathing Exercises and the Valsalva Maneuver on Pain Reduction During Peripheral Intravenous Catheterization

Eyes will be closed first. Head and neck will be relaxed. Breathing will be taken through the nose for three seconds. Then the breath will be held for three seconds. In the last step, breath will be exhaled through the mouth for three seconds. The patient will be instructed to take five normal breaths between each breathing exercise. The patient will be asked to count to three and will be told that he/she can count by using his/her fingers. The exercise will be started two minutes before the catheterisation procedure and the patient will be instructed to perform the breathing exercise twice. The patient will be asked to continue doing the breathing exercise until the PIC application process is completed.

The valsalva manoeuvre will be performed by blowing into a plastic tube connected through a sphygmomanometer. Patients will be allowed to raise the manometer by 30 mmHg for at least 20 seconds. Care will be taken to ensure that the PIC procedure is performed by the same nurse for the patients in the Valsalva manoeuvre group. The nurses performing the PIC procedure will be informed about the research subject and will be told that the patients will start the valsalva manoeuvre before the PIC procedure. Patients who can perform the valsalva manoeuvre by the researcher will be included in the study. Haemodynamic variables (blood pressure, pulse, saturation) of the patients will be recorded before the valsalva manoeuvre. Afterwards, the researcher will instruct the patients to blow into the plastic tube for 20 seconds after a deep breath to create 30 mmHg pressure.