ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Anesthesiology and Animal Pain Management
This article is part of the Research TopicPain Assessment and Management in Veterinary Medicine - Volume IIView all 5 articles
The efficacy of a novel CO₂ topical vapocoolant spray for reducing needle-related pain in dogs
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- 2KU Center for Animal Blood Medical Science, Konkuk University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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Effective pain management is essential in veterinary needle-related procedures. Traditional methods, including infiltrative, cream, and spray formulations, have limitations such as delayed onset, inconsistent temperature control, and skin damage. This study evaluated the efficacy of a novel vapocoolant spray (VetEase® , Recensemedical, Hwaseong-si, Republic of Korea) for enhanced pain relief. 90 cases of dogs received cryoanesthesia immediately before undergoing three types of needle-related procedures: centesis (including cystocentesis, thoracentesis, and abdominocentesis), fine-needle aspiration (FNA), and jugular venipuncture. Each procedure was divided into three groups based on cryoanesthesia spray conditions: control (no spray), group A (2 seconds at 2°C), and group B (5 seconds at 2°C). Modified pain scores and visual analog scale evaluations were recorded immediately after needle insertion to assess the reduction in pain. Pain evaluation criteria included vocalization, general movements, and other observable responses. Significant pain reduction was observed in the centesis procedure for the group treated with cryoanesthesia at 2°C for 5 seconds (Group B), with a mean modified pain score of 0.8 compared to 3.7 in the control group (p=0.001). The visual analog scale also showed a significant reduction in Group B (p=0.001). Although both cryoanesthesia groups showed reduced pain levels during FNA and jugular venipuncture procedures, the differences did not reach statistical significance. No skin complications were reported. The novel cryoanesthetic device significantly alleviated needle-related pain. It provided rapid local anesthesia, eliminating the need for prolonged onset times and minimizing skin complications, thereby presenting a viable alternative to topical anesthetics.
Keywords: Cryoanesthesia, Cryotherapy, Local anesthetic, Needle-induced pain, Vapocoolant spray, Visual Analog Scale
Received: 26 Nov 2025; Accepted: 31 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Lee and Han. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hyun-Jung Han
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