Anesthesiology and pain medicine
-
Pain scores are used for acute pain management. The assessment of pain by the patient as well as the caregiver can be influenced by a variety of factors. The numeric rating scale (NRS) is widely used due to its easy application. The NRS requires abstract thinking by a patient to assign a score to correctly reflect analgesic needs, and its interpretation is subject to bias. ⋯ The OPS is a good stand-alone pain score and is better than the NRS for defining mild and moderate pain. It may even be used to supplement NRS when it is indicative of mild or moderate pain.