Beware the Painless Pulmonary Embolism

Beware the Painless Pulmonary Embolism

Many EPs know that myocardial infarction can be painless in about 20 percent of cases but are unaware that the same is true of pulmonary embolism. Many conditions, in fact, that are typically quite painful are actually... read more

Significant Persistent Pain Symptoms After Critical Care Illness

Significant Persistent Pain Symptoms After Critical Care Illness

Persistent pain could be a common health problem after critical illness care. Our data also suggest that there is a lack of specific follow-up after ICU discharge. Given the major consequences on patient quality of life,... read more

Fear and Insight in the ICU Bed

Fear and Insight in the ICU Bed

Mid-morning dressing changes, hours wasted, going through each cut methodically. Dressing off, wound cleaned, redressed. The brunt of pain dealt with by nature before giving in. The intensive care unit (ICU) nurse offers... read more

New Study for Opioid Use Patterns

New Study for Opioid Use Patterns

The purpose of this study is to as certain and describe the trajectories of pain experienced by a diverse group of opioid naive patients who are prescribed an opioid analgesic for acute pain. Using a digital health-based... read more

Assessing Movement-Evoked Pain

Assessing Movement-Evoked Pain

One of the most common and nuanced tasks that nurses perform is pain assessment, particularly in acute postoperative settings where frequent reassessments are needed. Most assessments are limited to obtaining a pain intensity... read more

Long-Term Opioid Prescription Linked to Higher Risk of Hepatitis C

Long-Term Opioid Prescription Linked to Higher Risk of Hepatitis C

Exposure to long-term prescription opioid therapy was linked to a three times higher risk of HCV seroconversion compared to individuals who were prescription opioid-naïve or acute. Prescription opioid use is associated... read more

Consensus Process to Define Guiding Principles for Acute Perioperative Pain Management

Consensus Process to Define Guiding Principles for Acute Perioperative Pain Management

The US Health and Human Services Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force initiated a public–private partnership which led to the publication of its report in 2019. The report emphasized the need for individualized,... read more

Consensus Guidelines on the Use of Intravenous Ketamine Infusions for Acute Pain Management

Consensus Guidelines on the Use of Intravenous Ketamine Infusions for Acute Pain Management

Evidence supports the use of ketamine for acute pain in a variety of contexts, including as a stand-alone treatment, as an adjunct to opioids, and, to a lesser extent, as an intranasal formulation. Contraindications for... read more

Bodily Pain in Survivors of ARDS

Bodily Pain in Survivors of ARDS

Nearly half of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) survivors reported bodily pain at 6- and 12-month follow-up; one-third reported pain at both time points. Pre-ARDS unemployment, smoking history, and in-ICU opioid... read more

Midazolam and Ketamine Produce Neural Changes in Memory and Pain

Midazolam and Ketamine Produce Neural Changes in Memory and Pain

Painful stimulation during light sedation with midazolam, but not ketamine, can be accompanied by increased coherence in brain connectivity, even though details are less likely to be recollected as explicit memories. In... read more

The Relationship Between Heart Rate and Body Temperature in Critically Ill Patients

The Relationship Between Heart Rate and Body Temperature in Critically Ill Patients

In critically ill patients, increased metabolic demand results in increased cardiac output. Increased heart rate in these patients can also be secondary to other conditions such as hypovolemia, heart failure, anxiety, or... read more

Sedation with Midazolam After Cardiac Surgery in Children with and without Down Syndrome

Sedation with Midazolam After Cardiac Surgery in Children with and without Down Syndrome

The majority of children with and without Down syndrome required additional sedation after cardiac surgery. This pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic analysis does not provide evidence for different dosing of midazolam in... read more

Study Finds Lower Dose of Ketamine Equally Effective in Reducing Pain

Study Finds Lower Dose of Ketamine Equally Effective in Reducing Pain

Ketamine is known to provide pain relief comparable to opioid medications, which are highly addictive. In the recent study, appearing in the journal Academic Emergency Medicine, researchers studied 98 patients, ages 18 to... read more

Modifiable Factors Associated With Chronic Pain After Surgery for Distal Radius Fractures

Modifiable Factors Associated With Chronic Pain After Surgery for Distal Radius Fractures

In this study, preoperative pain, time to surgery, and procedure type were modifiable factors associated with chronic pain 1 year after DRF treated with surgery. Adequate pain control in patients with acute DRFs even... read more