Pain Assessment in the Intensive Care Unit

University of Chicago30 enrolled

Overview

Pain assessment using self-report scales (Visual Analogue Scale, Numerical Rating Scale), is recommended in the general population, however it is not always possible in patients with altered neurological status such as sedated patients or patients with delirium. Consequently, pain assessment is highly challenging in these ICU patients. This is a prospective observational study assessing 3 behavioral pain scales in the ICU. The hypothesis of this proposal is that one of the three ICU pain scales has a more important reliability than the others. Such a scale could be recommended to be used to measure pain intensity in ICU patients not able to communicate.

The aims of this observational study are to measure and compare the psychometric properties of Behavioral Pain Scale (BPS), Critical Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT) and Non Verbal Pain Scale (NVPS) at baseline and following repositioning procedure in the ICU

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

Conditions

Delirium Critical Illness

Interventions

Repositioning

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 100 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * age \> 18 years * not comatose, defined by a Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale (RASS) ≥ -3, i.e. between -3 and +4 * not able to self-report accurately their pain intensity using a visually enlarged 0-10 numeric rating scale Exclusion Criteria: -neurological deficits (acute or chronic) that prevent observation of the muscle tonus or movement. For example: * Quadriplegia * Current use of Neuromuscular blocking agents * Severe brain injuries

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

pain score reliability

Behavioral Pain Scale(BPS), Critical Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT), Non Verbal Pain Scale (NVPS)

Time frame: change from time 0 pain assessment to time 30min pain assessment

Secondary Outcomes

pain score validity