Abstract
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The sensation of pain is essential for life, and its assessment in critical non-contacting patients can be performed using validated scales. The Behavioral Pain Scale is a highly accurate tool that has been widely used in this group of patients. This study aimed to describe and characterize pain and the use of analgesia in the emergency or intensive care service. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach with 67 critically ill patients unable to verbalize their pain perception, who were hospitalized in the emergency service or Intensive Care Units of a public hospital in Vitoria da Conquista, Bahia from April to July 2017. Clinical and epidemiological data were collected using the medical record and then applied to the Behavioral Pain Scale for pain assessment. RESULTS: There was a predominance of male patients (47/70.1%). Three groups were identified based on the use of sedatives and analgesics: patients taking sedatives and analgesics combined, only analgesia, and those without any sedation or analgesia. We observed ascending Behavioral Pain Scale scores in all groups during tracheal suction, but the same did not occur with the physiological parameters. CONCLUSION: The study proposes the adoption of pain assessment scales in critical patients, such as the Behavioral Pain Scale, as well as the use of protocols for analgesia management, and consequently improve the quality of care and patient's recovery.
Highlights
The sensation of pain is essential for life
Among the available scales to measure the pain in non-responsive patients, the most used by the health services is the Behavioral Pain Scale (BPS) because it is highly accurate and easy to apply to patients with severe pain[13,14]
Each of them was evaluated in three moments: a) at rest, b) eye cleansing (EC) and c) tracheal suction (TS); totaling 201 observations (67 patients versus three observations each)
Summary
The sensation of pain is essential for life. Its perception is the result of multidimensional and personal experiences in the face of the various stimuli that result or not in tissue injury[1]. Effective and adequate pain control is associated with a reduction in mechanical ventilation time, shorter patient length of stay, and lower morbidity and mortality rates in intensive care units (ICU)[16] Despite these benefits, pain assessment has been performed inadequately (or not performed) in some health services that provide care to critical patients, making it difficult to manage pain in these patients adequately[17,18]. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach with 67 critically ill patients unable to verbalize their pain perception, who were hospitalized in the emergency service or Intensive Care Units of a public hospital in Vitória da Conquista, Bahia from April to July 2017.
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