Polish Experiences of Pain Treatment by Paramedics in relation to Good Practices of Pain Treatment: A Register-Based Study

Background. Pain is frequently encountered in the prehospital setting. The treatment of pain is one of the priority activities for paramedics. Methods. 1048576 patients under the care of EMS over a 7-month period were included in this study. Data included using pain scale and pain score, the initial...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mariusz Koral, Jakub Szyller
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2022-01-01
Series:Emergency Medicine International
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/3677688
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849304856820449280
author Mariusz Koral
Jakub Szyller
author_facet Mariusz Koral
Jakub Szyller
author_sort Mariusz Koral
collection DOAJ
description Background. Pain is frequently encountered in the prehospital setting. The treatment of pain is one of the priority activities for paramedics. Methods. 1048576 patients under the care of EMS over a 7-month period were included in this study. Data included using pain scale and pain score, the initial diagnosis, analgesic treatment and the given drug obtained from the Ambulance Emergency Procedure Cards. Results. The complete absence of pain was detected in 43.9% (95% CI 43.8–44.0) of patients, mild pain in 17.0% (95% CI 16.9–17.1), moderate pain in 11.6% (95% CI 11.5–11.7), and severe pain in 4.9% (95% CI 4.9–4.9) of cases. In 22.5% (95% CI 22.4–22.6), no pain rating scale was used. 98.0% (95% CI 97.9–98.1) of patients with mild, 96.1% (95% CI 96.0–96.2) with moderate, and 94.0% (95% CI 93.9–94.1) with severe pain did not receive any pain medication. The most commonly used drugs in all groups were metamizole and ketoprofen. The greatest analgesic effect was observed in the group of patients with severe pain. Pain decreased by an average of 3.2 NRS points in the drug-free group and 3.1 NRS points in the treated group. The most commonly documented diagnoses in all groups of patients were signs and diseases not classified in other groups (ICD-10 R00-R99), injuries and consequences of external causes (ICD-10 S00-T98), and diseases of the circulatory system (ICD-10 I00–I99). Conclusions. Paramedics may use a variety of medications but use them rarely. Adding metamizole to the list of medications used by paramedics has made it one of the most commonly used drugs. Regardless of whether the drug was used or not, the analgesic effect was similar.
format Article
id doaj-art-3fdd0a96dd574dc7aa9a63b9953e1b92
institution Kabale University
issn 2090-2859
language English
publishDate 2022-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Emergency Medicine International
spelling doaj-art-3fdd0a96dd574dc7aa9a63b9953e1b922025-08-20T03:55:36ZengWileyEmergency Medicine International2090-28592022-01-01202210.1155/2022/3677688Polish Experiences of Pain Treatment by Paramedics in relation to Good Practices of Pain Treatment: A Register-Based StudyMariusz Koral0Jakub Szyller1Medical Simulation CenterDivision of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory HematologyBackground. Pain is frequently encountered in the prehospital setting. The treatment of pain is one of the priority activities for paramedics. Methods. 1048576 patients under the care of EMS over a 7-month period were included in this study. Data included using pain scale and pain score, the initial diagnosis, analgesic treatment and the given drug obtained from the Ambulance Emergency Procedure Cards. Results. The complete absence of pain was detected in 43.9% (95% CI 43.8–44.0) of patients, mild pain in 17.0% (95% CI 16.9–17.1), moderate pain in 11.6% (95% CI 11.5–11.7), and severe pain in 4.9% (95% CI 4.9–4.9) of cases. In 22.5% (95% CI 22.4–22.6), no pain rating scale was used. 98.0% (95% CI 97.9–98.1) of patients with mild, 96.1% (95% CI 96.0–96.2) with moderate, and 94.0% (95% CI 93.9–94.1) with severe pain did not receive any pain medication. The most commonly used drugs in all groups were metamizole and ketoprofen. The greatest analgesic effect was observed in the group of patients with severe pain. Pain decreased by an average of 3.2 NRS points in the drug-free group and 3.1 NRS points in the treated group. The most commonly documented diagnoses in all groups of patients were signs and diseases not classified in other groups (ICD-10 R00-R99), injuries and consequences of external causes (ICD-10 S00-T98), and diseases of the circulatory system (ICD-10 I00–I99). Conclusions. Paramedics may use a variety of medications but use them rarely. Adding metamizole to the list of medications used by paramedics has made it one of the most commonly used drugs. Regardless of whether the drug was used or not, the analgesic effect was similar.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/3677688
spellingShingle Mariusz Koral
Jakub Szyller
Polish Experiences of Pain Treatment by Paramedics in relation to Good Practices of Pain Treatment: A Register-Based Study
Emergency Medicine International
title Polish Experiences of Pain Treatment by Paramedics in relation to Good Practices of Pain Treatment: A Register-Based Study
title_full Polish Experiences of Pain Treatment by Paramedics in relation to Good Practices of Pain Treatment: A Register-Based Study
title_fullStr Polish Experiences of Pain Treatment by Paramedics in relation to Good Practices of Pain Treatment: A Register-Based Study
title_full_unstemmed Polish Experiences of Pain Treatment by Paramedics in relation to Good Practices of Pain Treatment: A Register-Based Study
title_short Polish Experiences of Pain Treatment by Paramedics in relation to Good Practices of Pain Treatment: A Register-Based Study
title_sort polish experiences of pain treatment by paramedics in relation to good practices of pain treatment a register based study
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/3677688
work_keys_str_mv AT mariuszkoral polishexperiencesofpaintreatmentbyparamedicsinrelationtogoodpracticesofpaintreatmentaregisterbasedstudy
AT jakubszyller polishexperiencesofpaintreatmentbyparamedicsinrelationtogoodpracticesofpaintreatmentaregisterbasedstudy