• Sylweriusz Kosiński, Magdalena Bryja, Rafał Wojtaszowicz, and Andrzej Górka.
• Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, Sokołowski Specialist Hospital of Lung Diseases in Zakopane, Poland. kosa@mp.pl.
• Anaesthesiol Intensive Ther. 2014 Apr 1;46(2):83-7.

BackgroundExperience of pain associated with both chronic as well as acute medical conditions is a main cause for call for ambulance. The aim of this study was to establish both frequency and characteristics of pain reported by patients treated in pre-hospital environment in a single operational area. The supplementary goal was an analysis of methods of pain alleviation applied by medical personnel in the above described scenario.MethodsThe written documentation of 6 months of year 2009 provided by doctor-manned as well as paramedic-only ambulances operating in Tatra county, Małopolska, Poland was analyzed.ResultsMedical personnel inquired about pain experienced in 57.4% of cases, 10-point numerical rating scale was used in 22.3% of patients. Pain was reported by 43.8% of patients, the most frequent reasons of experienced pain were trauma and cardiovascular diseases. In almost half of the cases pain was referred to the areas of chest and abdomen. Non-traumatic pain was reported by 47.7% of patients, post-traumatic in 41.3% of cases, 11% of subjects reported ischemic chest pain. 42.3% of pain-reporting patients received some form of analgesia, yet only 3% of subjects in this group received opiates. Personnel of paramedic-only ambulances tended to use pain intensity scale more often (P < 0.01), yet administered pain alleviating drugs noticeably less often than the doctor-manned teams (P < 0.01).ConclusionThe use of pain alleviating drugs, opiates especially, was inadequate in proportion to frequency and intensity of pain reported by patients. General, nation-wide standards of pain measurement and treatment in pre-hospital rescue are suggested as a means to improve the efficacy of pain reduction treatment.

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