Evaluación y manejo del dolor intradiálisis

Abstract

Pain is a frequent symptom in patients who undergo haemodialysis (HD), directly affecting their quality of life. However, its characteristics in this type of patient are not well known and there are no publications prior to this study dedicated exclusively to assessing pain during a haemodialysis session. This study assesses the characteristics of intradialysis pain, including its prevalence, intensity, qualitative characteristics and measures applied to control it. For these purposes, validated valuation scales widely used in the control of oncological pain were used, which were extended with a specific survey that evaluated aspects of pain related to the dialysis itself, including timing, frequency or influence of the treatment parameters. The entire information compilation process took place during the haemodialysis sessions. The prevalence of pain in HD was 92.1%, only in 3 cases (7.89%) was the pain level zero. 28.9% of patients identified the procedure itself as the cause of the pain, the second most frequent cause after pain of ischemic origin. The Pain Management Index (PMI) showed clear under-treatment, which was most marked the more intense the pain described by the patient. However, the measures taken during haemodialysis for the control of the episodes of pain detected were efficient in a reasonable percentage of cases, which indicates that most of the pain episodes are not perceived by us.