The effect of informing the patient about the procedure with video imaging before office hysteroscopy on pain.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of informing patients undergoing diagnostic office hysteroscopy via a video 24 h before the procedure and determine the changes in pain scores, channel transit time, the degree of difficulty of the procedure, and physiological parameters.

Design: Single-blind randomized controlled trial.

Setting: The study was conducted between September 1, 2021 and April 1, 2022 at the University of Health Sciences Bakirkoy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital.

Participants: A total of 134 patients aged 18-65 years who needed diagnostic office hysteroscopy.

Interventions: Participants were randomized into two groups, the standard information group (Group 1: controls), and the video information + standard information group (Group 2). After office hysteroscopy, a visual analog scale (VAS) and Likert scale were used to assess pain and the degree of difficulty of the procedure, respectively. Physiological parameters were evaluated before and after the procedure.

Main Outcome Measure: To determine the effect of video-based multimedia information administered 24 h before office hysteroscopy on post-procedure pain.

Results: The mean VAS score of the group that watched the training video (3.02 ± 1.88) was significantly lower than the control group (4.72 ± 2.54) who did not watch the training video (p < 0.001). The mean cervical channel transit time in seconds (sec) during the procedure was found to be significantly higher in the control group (21.57 ± 15.10 s) than in the video-watching group (p = 0.011). There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of physiological parameters and the degree of ease of the procedure.

Conclusion: Our study has shown that informing patients in a pre-procedure video is an effective approach that shortens the duration of the channel transit time and reduces pain.