[Assessment of pain associated to common invasive procedures and nurse's opinion].
Assessment of pain associated to common invasive procedures and nurse's opinion.


BACKGROUND
Invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures (IDTP) may be painful and cause physical and emotional discomfort.


OBJECTIVE
An observational study was conducted in three medical wards of S. Giovanni Battista Hospital, to a) assess pain and discomfort experienced by patients during IDTPs and nurses' opinion; b) describe frequency and outcomes of the administration of analgesics and anxiolitics.


METHODS
Pain was assessed with a Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) before and after IDTPs and patients were asked to describe the main causes of pain/discomfort experienced. Nurses expressed their opinion on pain and discomfort caused by a list of IDTPs. Means and DS sere calculated for each IDTP.


RESULTS
Data on 186 patients and 200 IDTPs were collected. The most performed IDTPs were EGDS (18%), blood gas analysis (14%) and colonoscopy (12.5%). The most painful were Bone Marrow Biopsy (BOM) (NRS 7.05) and colonoscopy (NRS 6.44); those more anxiety provoking the BOM (NRS 7.26) and bronchoscopy (NRS 5.09). No analgesic or insufficient dosages were administered before some IDTPs and 56% patients would have liked it. Nurses rated patients pain and fear/anxiety significantly higher than patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Acute pain, fear and anxiety are poorly controlled; the lack of protocols for pain control may be responsible for the different levels of discomfort experienced.
AOU S.Giovanni Battista di Torino.
Silvia
S
Angelini
Fulvio
F
Ricceri
Valerio
V
Dimonte
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009733:Nursing Diagnosis; D010147:Pain Measurement; D055815:Young Adult