Mean Scores of Pain Intensity Following the Administration of Different Analgesics in Patients Referred to the Emergency Department

Pain is one of the most common problems of patients referring to the emergency department, and its effective control is a main issue. The aim of this study was to evaluate the mean pain scores following the administration of various analgesics in patients referred to the emergency department.

This descriptive-analytical study was performed on patients referred to the emergency department of Besat Hospital in Sanandaj in 2017. Analgesic drugs were included of acetaminophen, fentanyl, morphine sulfate, ketorolac, and methadone. Patients' pain intensity was assessed by a 10-point scoring system before and after analgesia therapy. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 22.0 software using one-way analysis of variance, repeated measures analysis of variance and analysis of covariance.

A total of 388 patients were included in the study, of which 62.4% (242) were male and 37.6% (146) were female. The mean age of the subjects was 37.4 years. Acetaminophen (39.7%, n = 154) was the most common pain reliever and methadone (2.1%, n = 8) was the lowest one. The results of one-way analysis of variance demonstrated that, the mean pain intensity at the beginning and after 15 minutes was significantly different between drugs (P=0.001), but the results of analysis of covariance showed that the relationship between different pain relievers were not different significantly in short-time follow-up.

Based on the results of the present study, the initial pain intensity is an effective factor that could be the main determinant factor. Therefore, interpreting the reduction in pain intensity and the difference in the amount of this reduction based on the type of medication received and without considering the initial pain intensity is not a correct concept.