Pain assessment in critically ill patients: an integrative literature review

Abstract

Background: Pain is usually present in critically ill patients, with an impact on their overall health status. For this reason, pain management is essential, involving pain assessment, observation and treatment using appropriate assessment scales/indicators for identifying pain intensity and assessing the effectiveness of the interventions. Objective: To identify the scales/indicators to be used for assessing pain in critically ill patients. Methodology: Integrative literature review through the search for published and gray literature in the MEDLINE, CINAHL and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases. Results: We found 34 documents, and selected 7 final documents for data extraction and analysis. Conclusion: The BPS, BPAS and CPOT are considered to be the most suitable pain assessment instruments for critically ill patients. The pain indicators found were pupil diameter variation, ventilator asynchrony, restlessness and body movements, facial expressions and vocalizations.