Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The effect of a program to promote play to reduce children's post-surgical pain: with plush toys, it hurts less.
Various nonpharmacological strategies to relieve hospitalized children's pain propose play as a central element. Play is considered an essential resource to improve the negative psychosocial effects of the disease and the hospitalization itself. However, the empirical research of play in health settings has not received much attention. ⋯ On average, the children from the experimental group scored lower on a pain scale than the children from the control group. This occurred in the three postsurgical measurements of pain. It is concluded that the program to promote play can decrease children's perception of pain.
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Patients with dementia receive suboptimal palliative care, and this patient group is at risk to have pain at the end of life. Because communicative impairments are common in this patient group, nurses play an important caregiver role in identifying, assessing, and relieving patients' pain. This study aimed to describe nurses' experiences regarding end-of-life pain relief in patients with dementia. ⋯ The results of this study highlight the complexity of pain relief in patients with dementia at the end of life from a nursing perspective. The inability of patients with dementia to verbally communicate their pain makes them a vulnerable patient group, dependent on their caregivers. Knowing the life story of the patient, professional experience, teamwork based on good communication, and use of a pain assessment tool were reported by the nurses to improve pain relief at the end of life for patients with dementia.
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The validity and reliability of the Abbey Pain Scale-Japanese version (APS-J) have been examined. However, the range of cognitive levels for which the APS-J can be accurately used in older adults has not been investigated. This study aimed to examine the differences between total/item scores of the APS-J and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores of residents in aged care facilities who self-reported the presence or absence of pain. ⋯ Pain intensity tended to be overestimated by the APS-J, especially among those with low MMSE scores. The APS-J can be used to assess pain intensity in residents despite their cognitive levels. However, caution is required when using it to compare scores among older adults with different cognitive capacity because of the possibility of overestimation of pain among residents with low cognitive capacity.
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The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of relaxing music on pain intensity in patients with neuropathic pain. A quasi-experimental study, repeated measures design was used. Thirty patients, aged 18-70 years, with neuropathic pain and hospitalized in an Algology clinic were identified as a convenience sample. ⋯ Data were collected over a 6-month period in 2012. The patients' mean pain intensity scores were reduced by music, and that decrease was progressive over the 30th and 60th minutes of the intervention, indicating a cumulative dose effect. The results of this study implied that the inclusion of music therapy in the routine care of patients with neuropathic pain could provide nurses with an effective practice for reducing patients' pain intensity.
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Neuropathic pain (NP) in children with cancer is not well characterized. In a retrospective review of patient data from a 3.5-year period, we describe the prevalence of NP and the characteristics, duration of follow-up, and interventions provided for NP among patients referred to a pediatric oncology center's pain management service. Fifteen percent (66/439) of all referrals to our pain service were for NP (56/323 patients [17%]; 34 male, 22 female). ⋯ Pharmacologic management of NP was complex, often comprising three medications. Nonpharmacologic approaches were used for 57.6% of NP referrals. Neuropathic pain is less frequently encountered than non-NP in children with cancer; nevertheless, it is more difficult to treat, requiring longer follow-up, more clinical visits, complex pharmacologic management, and the frequent addition of nonpharmacologic interventions.