The effect of lavender scent on the severity of pain caused by bone marrow biopsy

Pain is the most frequent complaint in bone marrow biopsy. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of lavender scent on the severity of pain caused by bone marrow biopsy.

This clinical trial was performed on 80 patients attending Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran for bone marrow biopsy. Samples were selected using convenience sampling method and were assigned into an intervention and a control groups using random blocks of 4. A random sequence was generated using RAS software. Drops of distilled water were placed on cotton ball for the control group and drops of lavender essential oil were placed on cotton ball for the intervention group, then the intensity of pain was immediately assessed after biopsy sampling. The results were analyzed by SPSS software version 25 using covariance analysis and ranking regression for the scores and levels of pain variables, respectively.

The results showed that, the mean scores of pain in the control and intervention groups were 6.9 ± 1.37 and 4.1 ± 1.24, respectively. There was a significant difference in pain scores between the two groups (P <0.05). Also, the results showed that, by adjusting the variables such as age, gender, physician experience, biopsy history and biopsy location, a significant difference occurred in pain scores between the intervention and control groups (P <0.05). The adjusted pain score (−1.3) in the intervention group was less than the control group.

The results of present study showed that, patients undergoing bone marrow biopsy report a moderate to severe levels of pain during biopsy, and smelling the lavender scent is effective in reducing the pain they experience.