TY - JOUR
T1 - Pain experiences of traumatically injured patients in a critical care setting
AU - Stanik-Hutt, Julie A.
AU - Soeken, Karen L.
AU - Belcher, Anne E.
AU - Fontaine, Dorrie K.
AU - Gift, Audrey G.
PY - 2001/7
Y1 - 2001/7
N2 - • Background Little is known about the acute pain experiences of traumatically injured critically ill patients. • Objectives To describe pain experiences of traumatically injured adults during the first 72 hours of hospitalization. • Methods Thirty multiply injured adults at a level I trauma center participated in the study. Pain was measured by using the McGill Pain Questionnaire and a visual analog scale. Subjects completed pain measures while at rest in a supine recumbent position and after a turn onto the side. • Results The typical subject was 37 years old, had 4 major blunt trauma injuries, and had received the equivalent of 55.9 mg of morphine during the 24 hours before data collection. Mean at-rest scores were 26.5 on the pain-rating index, 2 on the present pain intensity index, and 34.6 on the visual analog scale. Immediately after the turn, mean scores on the visual analog scale increased from 25 to 48.1 (P=.002). Other pain scores after the turn did not differ significantly from at-rest values. Subjects who turned had lower scores on the visual analog scale at rest (P=.02) and less anxiety (P=.02) than did those who refused to turn. Ninety-six percent reported pain in the injured areas, and 36% reported pain related to biomedical devices. No relationship was found among reported pain and demographic, treatment, or clinical variables. • Conclusions Additional research is needed on pain at rest and during commonly performed procedures and on improved methods for pain relief in traumatically injured critically ill patients.
AB - • Background Little is known about the acute pain experiences of traumatically injured critically ill patients. • Objectives To describe pain experiences of traumatically injured adults during the first 72 hours of hospitalization. • Methods Thirty multiply injured adults at a level I trauma center participated in the study. Pain was measured by using the McGill Pain Questionnaire and a visual analog scale. Subjects completed pain measures while at rest in a supine recumbent position and after a turn onto the side. • Results The typical subject was 37 years old, had 4 major blunt trauma injuries, and had received the equivalent of 55.9 mg of morphine during the 24 hours before data collection. Mean at-rest scores were 26.5 on the pain-rating index, 2 on the present pain intensity index, and 34.6 on the visual analog scale. Immediately after the turn, mean scores on the visual analog scale increased from 25 to 48.1 (P=.002). Other pain scores after the turn did not differ significantly from at-rest values. Subjects who turned had lower scores on the visual analog scale at rest (P=.02) and less anxiety (P=.02) than did those who refused to turn. Ninety-six percent reported pain in the injured areas, and 36% reported pain related to biomedical devices. No relationship was found among reported pain and demographic, treatment, or clinical variables. • Conclusions Additional research is needed on pain at rest and during commonly performed procedures and on improved methods for pain relief in traumatically injured critically ill patients.
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U2 - 10.4037/ajcc2001.10.4.252
DO - 10.4037/ajcc2001.10.4.252
M3 - Article
C2 - 11432213
AN - SCOPUS:0035403848
SN - 1062-3264
VL - 10
SP - 252
EP - 259
JO - American Journal of Critical Care
JF - American Journal of Critical Care
IS - 4
ER -