Pain Flashcards
Pain is difficult to assess because it is subjective and each patient’s experience of pain is unique. What factors have an influence over this?
- Unique physiology (peripheral and central nervous system circuitry)
- Pathophysiology (not one injury is exactly the same)
- Personality
- Previous life experience
- Cultural and religious background
- Age
What goes into ascertaining a patient’s history of pain?
- Existence of pain
- Previous injuries
- Adjunctive therapies (acupuncture, TENS, injection therapy, SCS (what are they doing for the pain?)
- Coexisting psychological/physical diseases
- Assess other factors which may influence pain history: social, cultural, and spiritual factors
Elements of a Pain Assessment
- P = Precipitating events
- Q = Quality
- R = Region/ Radiation
- S = Severity
- T = Temporal relationship/ Timing
-
A = Associated symptoms:
- Functional impairment
- Previous treatment
- Inflammation
- Pain Goals
Appropriate population for Wong-Baker FACES
3 years old and up; “younger and/or not as verbal”
Purpose of Behavioral Pain Scales
- Provide a means for consistent evaluation of pain in non-verbal pt populations
- Allows pts who cannot self report pain a method for pain assessment
- Pediatric patients, neonates, babies
- Pts w/ cognitive impairment
- Critically ill patients
Appropriate population for the Checklist of Non-verbal Pain Indicators (CNPI)
Adults
Appropriate population for the Payen Behavior Pain Scale
- Developed for critically ill, intubated ICU pts
- Has reliability &validity & correlates to NPI ratings (even in sedated pts)
- Uses a 0 to 12 pain rating scale (3-12???)
Appropriate population for FLACC
2 months – 7 years
Face/Legs/Activity/Cry/Consolability
(scale = 0-10)
Appropriate population for CRIES Pain Scale
0-6 months old
Crying
Requires O2 for SaO2 less than 95%
Increased vitals (BP/HR)
Expression
Sleepless
(scale = 0-10)
Considerations in Methods to Relieve Pain
- Duration of pain relief (shorter vs longer acting)
- Acute vs Chronic pain?
- Patient history
- Goals of management
Nonpharmacologic pain treatment modalities
- PT/ rolling
- Heat/cold
- Acupuncture
- Relaxation behaviors
- Massage
- Positioning
- Immobilization
- TENS
Pain Treatment Modalities: Medications
- Types:
- Opioids
- Non-steroidals
- Corticosteroids
- Local anesthetics
- Ketamine
- Alpha 2 Adrenergic Agonists
- Antidepressants
- Anticonvulsants
- Prescription or OTC
- Continuous or PRN
Physical Exam
- General physical examination
- Examine affected area
- Neurological exam
- Musculoskeletal system examination (ROM; muscle wasting)
- Skin (redness, wounds, edema, temp changes)
- Assessment of psychological factors: un-kept personal hygiene
- Vital signs
Specific Diagnostic Studies
- Quantitative sensory testing (QST) for pain thresholds and pain tolerance
- “Poor man’s sensory testing”
- Diagnostic nerve blocks
- Pharmacologic tests
- X-rays, CT, MRI, ultrasound
- EMG (Electromyography nerve test)
- NCV (Nerve Conduction Velocity test)
- Bone scans
- Blood tests: looking for co-conditions (RA, chronic inflammation)
What is acute pain?
- Pain caused by noxious stimulation d/t injury, trauma, an acute disease process, or abnormal function of muscle or viscera.
- Almost always nociceptive pain
- Results in a neuroendocrine response
Why manage pain?
- Control of postop pain allows for:
- Reduction of the stress response
- Shorter times to extubation, shorter ICU stay
- Improved respiratory function
- Earlier return of bowel function
- Early mobilization = decreased risk DVTs
- Early discharge
- Reduction in sensitization, neuroplasticity, wind-up phenomenon, and transition to chronic pain
What is the “poor man’s sensory testing”?
- Cold water in a glass tube (cold allodynia)
- Warm water in a glass tube (heat allodynia)
- Cotton wool and artist’s brush (dynamic mechanical allodynia)
- Blunt needle (hyperalgesia)
Methods to relieve pain intra-op
- Preemptive Analgesia- best postop pain management begins preop.
- Opioids and NSAIDs in GA
- Regional blocks
- Local infiltration at surgical site could be used to control acute pain (hernia repair, tonsilar bed.)
- Regional Anesthesia-pts do better overall
How do we see patients doing better with regional anesthesia as a method for intra-op pain relief?
- Less morbidity
- Less CV failure
- Less infections
- Less urinary cortisol
- >L1 significant effect on the neuroendocrine response to surgery.
- Lower overall post op complication rate