Local hospital studies magic cream to speed up numbing for kids getting shots or needle pricks

TAMPA - If you have ever taken a young child to the doctor or hospital, you know the one thing they dread the most is needles and shots. 

A study underway at Florida Hospital Tampa sets out to prove a new patch will make nurses' jobs easier and needle sticks less painful for their patients.

Christina Haynes brought Destiny to Florida Hospital suffering from a variety of symptoms that resulted in her getting an IV.  “They have a hard time finding her veins. They're poking her several times, causing her so much pain.”

Medical experts at Florida Hospital are working on a study to see if a new "magic cream" will numb children's skin layers quicker and keep them from feeling the needle go.

Dr. James Orlowski says, “We've now got two creams were studying. One is a patch. It’s actually like band aid and it works fairly quickly in about 15 or 20 minutes. Then we're comparing it with our standard now which takes about 45 minutes to work so the patch works in about half the time.

Sasha Madden is a pediatric RN at Florida Hospital. “With the magic cream, it's helping the children see when we have to do an invasive procedure like an IV stick or a lab draw, that it’s not as painful. With the study we'll see if which cream is more therapeutic and we can start using it on the floor."

The goal is to recruit 100 patients who will randomly get the patch or the cream. Orlowski says due to the expense and time - the numbing cream isn't always used for kids and this study might change that.

“For the nurses, it’s very important because you can imagine if a nurse has a new admission and they have to do blood draws in the morning, they don't want to have to put something on and wait 45 minutes before they can draw the blood or start an IV.  So were hoping the reduced time with the patch will speed things up with the nurses and enable them to use it more actively.”

Christina says, “The patch, I think, is great ,so they numb the area and she won’t feel it no matter how many times they poke her and she won't be screaming and hollering.”