title: The simple query "Do you want more pain medication?" is not a reliable way to assess acute pain relief in patients in the emergency department.
abstract: The management of acute pain constitutes an essential skill of emergency department (ED) physicians. However, the accurate assessment of pain intensity and relief represents a clinically challenging undertaking. Some studies have proposed to define effective pain relief as the patient's refusal for additional analgesic administration. The aim of this study was to verify whether such a refusal is effectively indicative of pain relief.
  
  
  
  This prospective cohort study included ED patients who received single or multiple doses of pain medication for an acute pain problem. Patients were evaluated for pain relief using one Likert scale and two dichotomous questions: Is your pain relieved? and Do you want more analgesics? Non-relieved patients were further analysed using a checklist as to the reasons behind their refusal for supplemental pain medication.
  
  
  
  We have recruited 378 adult patients with a mean age of 50.3 years (±19.1); 60% were women and had an initial mean pain level of 7.3 (±2.0) out of 10. We observed that 68 out of 244 patients who were adequately relieved from pain asked for more analgesics (28%), whereas 51 out of 134 patients who were not relieved from pain refused supplemental drugs (38%). Reasons for refusal included wanting to avoid side effects, feeling sufficiently relieved, and disliking the medication's effects.
  
  
  
  Over a third of ED patients in acute pain were not relieved but refused supplemental pain medication. Patients have reported legitimate reasons to decline further analgesics, and this refusal cannot be used as an indication of pain relief.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Emergency Medicine,Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal,Montreal,QC.
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Chauny
authors.affiliation: *Department of Emergency Medicine,Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal,Montreal,QC.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marquis
authors.affiliation: *Department of Emergency Medicine,Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal,Montreal,QC.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Paquet
authors.affiliation: †Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine,Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal,Montreal,QC.
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lavigne
authors.affiliation: ‡Faculty of Medicine,Université de Montréal,Montreal,QC.
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cournoyer
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Manzini
authors.affiliation: *Department of Emergency Medicine,Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal,Montreal,QC.
authors.forename: Raoul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Daoust
mesh_terms: D059787:Acute Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059408:Pain Management / Q000379:methods*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014218:Triage
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics
keywords: analgesic; emergency medicine; pain; pain relief