Investigation of the effectiveness of cooling spray on mammography comfort

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancer types in recent years. Early diagnosis of breast cancer increases the success of treatment. Breast cancer screening is thus highly critical. Mammography is a screening tool that is still globally valid. I would propose that Mammography can potentially be painful. In our study, we aimed to determine the level of pain experienced by using coolant spray before mammography imaging. Our study is a randomized double-blind prospective study. It was conducted on patients who agreed to participate in the study. In our study, coolant spray was applied to the case group and normal saline solution to the control group. After the procedure, data on experienced pain (using the VAS scale), comfort level, and the possibility of having a mammogram again were collected. The data obtained were analyzed in SPSS program. The number of patients admitted to the mammography unit during our study was 162. After applying the exclusion criteria, the study was completed with 136 patients. There was no statistical relationship between the placebo and coolant spray groups in terms of age, marital status, city/ provincial center-rural area of residence, educational status, employment status, smoking and menopausal status. The average VAS value experienced was lower in the coolant spray group than in the placebo group(4.82-6.84). The Coolant spray group had more positive responses to the question 'I would have mammography screening again'. Both findings were statistically significant(p < 0.05). A significant amount of pain is felt during the mammography procedure and this causes serious discomfort. Although different studies have been conducted to reduce this pain level, this is the first study in the literature to investigate the reduction of pain during mammography imaging using coolant spray. The pain perceived in the coolant spray group was considerably lower than in the placebo group. The rate of subsequent visits for mammography was similarly higher in the coolant spray group. A national screening program needs to involve the majority of the population in order to be feasible. For more screening to take place, appropriate environment and conditions should be provided. The most important reservation of the patients is the feeling of pain. Pain, which is one of the most important obstacles to mammography, can be reduced by using coolant spray.