Incidence and impacts of pain in intensive care units: systematic review

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:

In Intensive Care Units (ICU), patients are exposed to multiple procedures that can be painful, and health professionals are not always aware of the pain in these patients. Inadequate pain assessment and management, in turn, has been associated with several adverse outcomes, including an increased rate of infection, prolonged mechanical ventilation, hemodynamic disturbances, delirium, and compromised immunity. Thus, this study aimed to summarize the scientific evidence about the incidence and impacts of pain in critically ill patients.

CONTENTS:

A systematic review of observational studies (Pubmed and EMBASE databases) was performed with predetermined eligibility criteria. In the 32 studies included, it was identified that 10.1% to 61% of patients had pain at rest and 27.4% to 94% during procedures. In addition, there was evidence of improvement in patient outcomes after using validated instruments for pain measurement, including decreased length of ICU stay, duration of mechanical ventilation, mortality, delirium, adverse events, and disease severity.

CONCLUSION:

Through the present study, it was observed that pain is a common phenomenon in ICU and that its identification and management constitute a realistic goal and depend on the evaluation. Furthermore, pain appears to be associated with worse clinical outcomes. Therefore, efforts must be made to provide comprehensive care for critically ill patients, aiming not only at their survival, but also at alleviating their suffering.

Keywords:
Association measure; Exposure risk or outcome; Intensive care unit; Pain; Pain measurement; Systematic review