Effectiveness of the Self-report Pain Intensity Scale in Pain Control After Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery

Abstract

Background: Pain following cardiac surgery is common, and pain assessment is a precondition for adequate pain management. We designed this study to evaluate the effectiveness of pain control using the self-report pain intensity scale during the postoperative period after coronary artery bypass surgery in the cardiac ICU. Methods: Of 160 patients scheduled for elective coronary revascularization, 154 patients were included in this prospective, double-blind clinical trial. The pain management program was performed on conscious patients for 48 hours. The study population was randomly divided into 2 groups. One group received analgesics as needed, based on conventional nurse-controlled analgesia (the NCA group; n=77), and the other group received analgesics based on the pain intensity score determined using the linear numerical rating scale (NRS group; n=77). In both groups, opioid and non-opioid analgesic consumption and satisfaction levels with pain relief were recorded. Results: The use of the self-report pain intensity scale led to an increase in the number of recipients of analgesic drugs and a decrease in their opioid/analgesic consumption during a 48-hour period in the NRS group. Satisfaction levels with pain relief were higher in the NRS group than in the NCA group (maximum satisfaction =43 55.8% vs 9 11.8%, respectively; P=0.0001). Conclusions: The findings of this study showed the efficacy of the self-report pain intensity scale in controlling patients' pain, using adequate and appropriate analgesics, prescribing accurate amounts of medication based on patients' pain, and increasing patients' satisfaction with pain relief.