Poster 20: A New Tool to Detect Pain in Disorders of Consciousness: The Coma Pain Scale

Abstract

Objectives: To propose a new scale developed for assessing pain in vegetative (VS) and minimally conscious (MCS) coma survivors: the Coma Pain Scale (CPS). Design: Prospective multi-centric study. Setting: Acute care, neurology, neurorehabilitation and nursing home centers part of the Belgian federal network for vegetative and minimally conscious states. Participants: 48 post-coma patients (28 VS and 20 MCS; age range 20 to 82 years; 17 of traumatic origin). Interventions: Behavioral responses of patients to a noxious stimulation (pressure applied to the fingernail) were assessed using the CPS and 4 other “pain scales” employed in noncommunicative patients: the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale and the Faces, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability used in newborns; the Pain Assessment In Advanced Dementia Scale and the Checklist of Nonverbal Pain Indicators used in dementia.