I am finding research about the pain of needlesticks and that it is good for patients long term if we don't subject children to the pain of needles. In addition to EMLA, there is LMX4 that is quicker (30 minutes), buffered lidocaine that can be injected with a 30 gauge needle almost painlessly or with a J tip and works in 1-3 minutes. According to some of the research I see, cold spray is helpful for IM injections, but not as much for pain associated with an IV start. There are mixed results about cold spray for IV starts. In addition there are other more expensive ways to decrease pain of needlesticks. These are probably the cheapest.
Who out there is using medicine or other devices to prevent pain of needlesticks in children? What do you use? Do you have a policy in place about it and how well are the employees able to follow it?