Avaliação dos níveis álgicos de pacientes críticos em terapia intensiva, antes, durante e após sessão de fisioterapia respiratória: Um estudo piloto

Abstract

AIMS: To evaluate pain levels of critically ill patients before, during, and after a chest physical therapy intervention. METHODS: Pilot study conducted at the intensive care unit (ICU) of a teaching hospital. Sedated and mechanically ventilated adult patients aged 18 to 60 years were selected. Sociodemographic, clinical, and hemodynamic data were analyzed, and the Behavioral Pain Scale (BPS) scale was used to assess pain in patients unable to be evaluated by self-report questionnaires. The physical therapy protocol consisted of manual vibrocompression maneuvers in both hemithoraces and of intratracheal aspiration. The hemodynamic variables and the BPS were analyzed in three periods: immediately before, in the fifth minute of intervention, and immediately after physical therapy. The Shapiro-Wilk test and ANOVA were used for the statistical analyses. The level of significance was p ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 22 patients, most of them male, aged 55±23.8 years. Nosocomial pneumonia the most prevalent pathology. There were no significant differences in hemodynamic variables and in pain assessment (p = 0.78) of the critically ill patients in any of the evaluated periods. CONCLUSIONS: In this sample of critically ill and mechanically ventilated ICU patients, no alterations in pain levels were detected during or after chest physical therapy.