Numerous studies have shown the influence of psychological factors on pain sensation, as well as efficacy of cognitive methods in its prevention. The objective of this study was to examine whether there was a difference in efficacy of cognitive method in pain prevention (distraction) and pharmacological method (EMLA cream) during venepuncture in hospitalised children. It is well known that routine diagnostic procedures are significant sources of stress in such children. The pharmacological methods that are mostly applied in pain prevention are rather expensive, may cause adverse side-effects and may be rather complicated in their application (as it is the case with EMLA cream). The said study was carried out on 64 children (10 to 18 years) randomly assigned to two treatment groups. In one group, in which pain was prevented by applying the cognitive technique, there were 16 boys and 15 girls. The group in which pharmacological technique was applied consisted of 15 boys and 18 girls. The obtained results neither show any statistically significant difference in efficacy of a particular technique regarding gender, nor any statistically significant difference in efficacy generally. The fact that cognitive techniques are easier to apply, more economic and not known to cause any side-effects, justifies their application in pain prevention during venepuncture in hospitalised children.Brojna istraživanja su pokazala utjecaj psiholoških faktora na doživljavanje boli. Također je dokazana uspješnost kognitivnih metoda za njeno suzbijanje. Ovim istraživanjem željelo se ispitati postoji li razlika u učinkovitosti kognitivnog postupka za suzbijanje boli (distrakcija) i farmakološkog postupka (EMLA kreme) u situaciji vađenja krvi iz vene kod hospitalizirane djece. Naime, rutinski dijagnostički postupci predstavljaju bitan izvor stresa kod takve djece. U praksi se najčeće koriste farmakološke metode suzbijanja boli, koje su skupe, imaju neželjenih nuspojava te su ponekad čak i izrazito komplicirane za uporabu (kao što je slučaj i s EMLA kremom). U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 64 djece (između 10 i 18 godina), koja su bila raspoređena u dvije tretmanske situacije. Tako se u skupini u kojoj se bol suzbijala kognitivnom tehnikom nalazilo 16 dječaka i 15 djevojčica. U skupini u kojoj se koristila farmakološka tehnika, nalazilo se 15 dječaka i 18 djevojčica. Istraživanjem nije nađena statistički značajna razlika u učinkovitosti pojedine tehnike ovisno o spolu, kao ni u učinkovitosti pojedine tehnike uopće. S obzirom na to da je kognitivna tehnika jednostavnija za primjenu, ekonomičnija te da nema poznatih nuspojava, opravdano je njeno korištenje pri suzbijanju boli nastale tijekom vađenja krvi iz vene hospitalizirane djece
