Pain
Conditions
Keywords
pain, Pain Measurement, Decision Making, Computer-Assisted, Informatics
Brief summary
Oligoanalgesia1 has been widely recognized as an issue in emergency department.The purpose of our study is to assess the impact of the implementation of a computer-assisted support program to improve pain management in our ED.
Detailed description
Inadequate pain management remains a major challenge for health care providers. Despite extensive research on the mechanisms of acute pain, identification of factors leading to poor pain management and development of evidence-based strategies, the transfer of this knowledge into effective clinical practices has been surprisingly slow. Oligoanalgesia1 has been widely recognized as an issue in emergency department (ED) patients. Acute pain is reported by 60-80% of ED inpatients but is frequently undertreated. Overall, an insufficient proportion of patients with acute pain receive any type of analgesia, and pain relief remains unsatisfactory. We showed that the implementation of guidelines improved pain management. However, rotation of the medical & nursing staff leads to the forgetting of guidelines. The purpose of our study is to assess the impact of the implementation of a computer-assisted support program to improve pain management in our ED.
Interventions
at the end of the pre-intervention period, the patient flow software was modified to open popup windows automatically when pain intensity was not documented or pain was not reevaluated within the recommended interval. The popup window also detailed appropriate pain treatment guidelines based on the documented pain intensity. In addition, the patient's icon in the flow software changed from black to red when pain intensity was \>4/10. After a 10-day test period, the post-intervention data collection started.
Sponsors
Societe Française de Medecine d'urgence
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois
Study design
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
16 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Any patient admitted to our Emergency Department who is * age \> 16 years * pain lasting =\< 1 week or * no pain on admission but pain during the ED stay
Exclusion criteria
* life-threatening condition requiring immediate admission in the OR or ICU * no pain or pain lasting \>1 week * inability to give informed consent (intoxicated, psychiatric disorder, language problem, prisoner)
Countries
Switzerland
Outcome results
None listed