Essential oils reduce autonomous response to pain sensation during self-monitoring of blood glucose among children with diabetes

Abstract

AbstractEssential oils were proven to possess analgesic activity in adults. Children with diabetes are exposed to highly painful interventions such as self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG).An evaluation of the analgesic properties of two essential oils during SMBG in diabetic children.We included 73 hospitalized children (age<18 years) with well-controlled type 1 diabetes.The study extended over a period of 1 month (2 weeks for control group and 1 week for orange and lavender oil application). The measurements were performed four times per day in a shared room during SMBG. Pain intensity was evaluated by visual analog scale (VAS) and change of baseline heart rate (ΔHR%). An aromatherapy device was used to disperse essential oils in the testing room.We performed 647 individual measurements of pain intensity and ΔHR%. Girls reported higher VAS scores [median, Me 0.5 (interquartile range, IQR 0–1) vs. 0 (IQR 0–0.5), p=0.0036]. Both age and duration of diabetes correlated with ΔHR% [Aromatherapy decreased the autonomic response to a painful stimulus by lowering ΔHR%, but did not affect the perception of pain reported by VAS.