[Pain treatment in the emergency department: what do patients think?]

Abstract

Background: Pain on admission, especially after trauma, is the most common complaint (over 80%) of patients in the emergency department. During a four-week period, an anonymous, voluntary survey on the quality of pain management was conducted among adult patients reporting to the emergency department.

Methods: Five hundred questionnaires were distributed during admission, and 260 were returned. Patients were asked about localisation and severity of pain (NRS - Numerical Rating Scale), the quality and speed of assistance in the emergency department, and the effectiveness of analgesia.

Results: Ninety percent of patients reported pain of varying intensity. The median pain scores on admission were 5.2, 7.3 during management, and 3.8 on discharge. Over 90% of patients were questioned about pain, but only 20% received some medication. Nevertheless, 80% of those surveyed were satisfied, and there was no correlation between the severity of pain and administration of analgesics. Fifty percent of patients received analgesics for home use, and 66% were instructed about further treatment.

Conclusions: Despite the frequency and intensity of pain, analgesics were rarely offered in the emergency department. A surprisingly high level of satisfaction was reported, despite suboptimal pain management. This indicates either that non-pharmacologic methods of pain treatment play an important role, or that the severity of pain is overestimated by patients.