August-September 2019, Volume 14, Issue 3 DOI: 10.21859/ijnr-14306 Iranian Journal of Nursing Research (IJNR) Original Article Comparing the Effect of Cryotherapy and Acupressure on Pain Intensity of Arteriovenous Fistula Cannulation in Patients Hemodialysis Fatemeh Hosseinzadeh 1 , Nasrin Alaee 2,* , Nahid Rejeh 3 , Seyedeh Nafiseh Alemohammad 4 1 Master of Science in Intensive Care Nursing of Shahed University; Nurse at Sina Hospital, Kerman, Iran 2 Assistant Professor, Nursing Department, College Nursing and Midwifery, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran 3 Professor, Nursing Department, College Nursing and Midwifery, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran 4 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran * Corresponding author: Nasrin Alaee, Assistant Professor, Nursing Department, College Nursing and Midwifery, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: alaei@shahed.ac.ir Received: 19 Apr 2019 Accepted: 30 Jun 2019 © 2019 Iranian Nursing Scientific Association (INA) Abstract Introduction: Patients with kidney failure undergoing hemodialysis are frequently exposed to the hemodialysis needles are inserted into the arteriovenous fistulas; one of the important interventions in nursing care is use of nonpharmacological interventions for relief pain. Therefore, this study was conducted to compare the effect of cryotherapy and acupressure on the pain intensity of needle insertion into arterial- venous fistula in hemodialysis patients. Methods: This research is a single-group, quasi-experimental study by census sampling which was performed on 42 hemodialysis women patients at selected hospitals in Kerman city in 2017.Data collection conducted by demographic questionnaire and pain numerical pain scale. A measurement of pain was done during three consecutive hemodialysis sessions, the first day no intervention, cryotherapy and acupressure intervention was done on the second and third day. In every stage, after being fixed the needle into the arteriovenous fistula vessels, pain was measured using numerical scale. Each cryotherapy and acupressure intervention was performed for 10 minutes on the Hugo point of hand not having A-V fistula (contralateral arm). Results: Most of patients experienced moderate pain without intervention (52.38%), mild pain with cryotherapy intervention (52.38%), and moderate pain after acupressure intervention (54.77%). The mean score of pain was decreased in both acupressure methods (4.19 ± 2.43) and cryotherapy (3.16 ± 2.17) compared to the no intervention technique (6.52 ± 1.82). This difference was significant so that the cryotherapy with mean ordinal score of (1.38) was more effective in reducing pain (P = 0.001). Conclusions: Applying cryotherapy on Hugo point of contralateral hand A-V fistula more than the acupressure has reduced pain of needle insertion. It is recommended to take into account comfort and relaxation of the patient, nurses using cryotherapy method to reduce pain for hemodialysis patients. Keywords: Cryotherapy, Acupressure, Arteriovenous Fistula, Pain, Hemodialysis