PAIN MANAGEMENT IN THE CRITICAL ILL PATIENTS WITH MECHANICAL VENTILATOR: A Literature review

Abstract

Pain is the most common experiences and stressors in the critically ill patients, because many sources of pain are present in critical care settings, such as acute illness, surgery, trauma, invasive equipment, nursing and medical interventions. Poor treatment of acute pain may lead to the development of serious complications which may seriously impact the patient’s functioning, quality of life, and well being. The critical nurse must understand the mechanisms, assessment, and appropriate intervention in managing pain. This study aim to describe pain experienced by critical ill patients, identify contributing factors of pain experience, the appropriate pain assessment tools among critically ill patients and critically analyze existing of evidence based interventions to
manage pain among critical ill patients with mechanical ventilator. The authors conducted a comprehensive systematic search of published literature, articles, journals related to pain management in critical ill patients. Pain in the critically ill patients difficult to assess and manage.
There are many sources of pain in the critical care setting, and the effect of unrelieved pain have a significant impact on the patient’s recovery. When possible, the patient’s self-report of pain must be obtained. When the patient’s self-report is not available, behavioral indicators represent alternative measure of pain assessment (e.g., BPS, COPT) have been developed for assessment of pain in the critically ill mechanically ventilated population. Both pain management pharmacologic and
nonpharmacologic can be used together in relieving pain. Using pharmacologic alone may not fully relieve all aspects of pain.
Keyword: Pain management, critical patients, mechanical ventilator