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- Title
The Relation Between Patients' NRS Pain Scores and Their Desire for Additional Opioids after Surgery.
- Authors
Dijk, Jacqueline F. M.; Kappen, Teus H.; Schuurmans, Marieke J.; Wijck, Albert J. M.
- Abstract
Background Postoperative pain is commonly assessed through a numerical rating scale ( NRS), an 11-point scale where 0 indicates no pain and 10 indicates the worst imaginable pain. Guidelines advise the administration of analgesics at NRS pain scores above 3 or 4. In clinical practice, not all patients with pain scores above the treatment threshold are willing to accept additional analgesic treatment, especially when opioids are offered. The objective of this study is to measure the relation between patients' NRS pain scores and their desire for additional opioids. Methods This cross-sectional study examined 1,084 patients in an academic hospital the day after surgery between January 2010 and June 2010. The day after surgery, patients were asked to score their pain and desire for opioids. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the desire for opioids and the different NRS thresholds were calculated. Results Only when patients scored an 8 or higher on the NRS did the majority express a need for opioids. Many patients did not desire opioids, because they considered their pain tolerable, even at an NRS score above 4. Conclusions With the current guidelines (ie, using pain scores above 3 or 4 for prescribing opioids), many patients could be overtreated. Therefore, scores generated by the NRS should be interpreted individually.
- Subjects
ANALGESIA; NARCOTICS; PAIN; POSTOPERATIVE pain; PAIN measurement; CROSS-sectional method
- Publication
Pain Practice, 2015, Vol 15, Issue 7, p604
- ISSN
1530-7085
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/papr.12217