Articles: pain-measurement.
-
J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 1990
Comparative Study Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical TrialDiscordance between self-report and behavioral pain measures in children aged 3-7 years after surgery.
This study examined concurrent self-reports of pain intensity and behavioral responses in 25 children aged 3-7 yr. Behavioral (Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Pain Scale, CHEOPS) and self-report (the Oucher and Analogue Chromatic Continuous Scale) measures of pain were obtained following major surgery. ⋯ Many children who reported severe pain manifested few of the behavioral indicators of distress used in the CHEOPS. This behavioral response pattern may occur commonly in children experiencing pain after surgery and may limit the applicability of current behavioral scales as sole measures of pain intensity in younger children.
-
In the first part of this report a methodology is described which allows an objective and specific exploration of experimental pain in man by using some electrophysiological features of cutaneous reflexes. This method can be summarized as follows: in normal and trained volunteers, we studied simultaneously the recruitment curves of the nociceptive flexion reflex of a knee-flexor muscle (biceps femoris muscle) and that of pain sensation elicited by electrical stimulation of the ipsilateral sural nerve at the ankle. In this procedure, we found that the reflex threshold (Tr) was closely related to that of pain threshold (Tp) around a similar value (10 mA). ⋯ On the other hand, data also show that the spinal level is one of the main important sites of the mechanisms of morphine-induced analgesia since this drug is found to strongly depress selectively the nociceptive transmission directly at the spinal level. Finally, this method is applied for investigating the nociceptive reactions in patients affected either with a pathological lack of pain sensation or, by contrast, in patients complaining of acute or chronic pain from various origins. Since the nociceptive flexion reflex can be considered as a specific and objective physiological correlate of a pain sensation, it can be successfully employed as a useful tool for investigating some aspects of the human nociceptive reactions in both experimental and pathological situations.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
[Initial results of the reliability and validity of a German-language scale for the quantitative measurement of postoperative pain in young children].
In a previous study it was proved impossible to evaluate the validity of a system modified according to McGrath et al. for measuring postoperative pain in children. Three reasons were postulated for this result. The analgesics used did not modulate the pain in such a manner that the statistical analysis was effective; or the postoperative pain had an acute onset or fluctuated and the regular observations did not allow detection of the pain peaks; or the system used did not measure pain. ⋯ RESULTS. A replication verified the results of the previous study: the factor analysis resulted in a one-factorial solution. Of the 8 items (wakefulness, wake-up reactions, crying, position of the trunk, position of the legs, verbal communications on being asked about pain, special defense against stimuli) only 4 had a sufficiently substantial load on all measurements (crying, facial expression, position of the trunk and position of the legs). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
-
Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Nov 1990
Pressure pain thresholds in volunteers and herniorrhaphy patients.
Pressure algometry is a method to estimate pressure pain sensitivity in tissues. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the reproducibility of pressure pain thresholds (PPT) in the abdominal integument and to evaluate the use of pressure algometry as a measure of wound tenderness following surgery. PPT was determined in 20 healthy volunteers on two separate examinations, and in 14 patients at the incisional site before and following inguinal herniotomy. ⋯ In surgical patients a significant decrease in PPT was observed following operation. Morphine 0.07 mg/kg caused a slight but significant increase in PPT. Pressure algometry may be useful to study nociceptive mechanisms and the dynamics of wound pain in surgical patients.
-
Painful procedures, experienced by many pediatric patients early in their admission, have been identified by parents in our clinical practice as a source of stress. The purpose of this study was to examine parents' perceptions and concerns about their child's acute pain experience. A convenience sample of 71 parents of 62 children was given a questionnaire that focused on the child's pain intensity, the behaviors that indicated the child was in pain, and the parents' preparation for and involvement in the child's pain experience. The majority of parents were asking for more information about and greater participation in procedures that caused their child pain.