Pain management of acute limb trauma patients with intravenous lidocaine in emergency department

Factors influencing nurses' pain assessment and management of road traffic casualties: a qualitative study at a military hospital in Ghana

BACKGROUND

Evidence shows that patients who visit the surgical and trauma emergency units may be discharged with untreated or increased pain levels. This study explored nurses' pain assessment and management approaches at a trauma-surgical emergency unit in Ghana.

METHODS

Seventeen nurses who work in the trauma department participated in this qualitative exploratory descriptive study. In-depth individual interviews were conducted, and the thematic analysis was utilized to identify emerging themes and subthemes.

RESULTS

Three main themes were identified: patient pain indicators, pain management, and institutional factors influencing pain management. The study revealed that nurses rely on verbal expressions, non-verbal cues, physiological changes, and the severity of pain communicated. The findings highlighted staff shortage, inadequate resources, and lack of standardized guidelines as factors affecting pain and management.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the study offers critical new perspectives on nurses' experiences regarding pain related issues at the trauma-surgical emergency units, its small sample size limited its generalizability.

Continued Opioid Use and Adverse Events Following Provision of Opioids for Musculoskeletal Pain in the Emergency Department: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

The prevalence of continued opioid use or serious adverse events (SAEs) following opioid therapy in the emergency department (ED) for musculoskeletal pain is unclear. The aim of this review was to examine the prevalence of continued opioid use and serious adverse events (SAEs) following the provision of opioids for musculoskeletal pain in the emergency department (ED) or at discharge.

METHODS

Records were searched from MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL from inception to 7 October 2022. We included randomised controlled trials and observational studies enrolling adult patients with musculoskeletal pain who were administered and/or prescribed opioids in the ED. Continued opioid use and opioid misuse data after day 4 since ED discharge were extracted. Adverse events were coded using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE), and those rated as grades 3-4 (severe or life-threatening) and grade 5 (death) were considered SAEs. Risk of bias was assessed using the Quality in Prognosis Studies (QUIPS) tool.

RESULTS

Seventy-two studies were included. Among opioid-naïve patients who received an opioid prescription, 6.8-7.0% reported recent opioid use at 3-12 months after discharge, 4.4% filled ≥ 5 opioid prescriptions and 3.1% filled > 90-day supply of opioids within 6 months. The prevalence of SAEs was 0.02% [95% confidence interval (CI) 0, 0.2%] in the ED and 0.1% (95% CI 0, 1.5%) within 2 days. One study observed 42.9% of patients misused opioids within 30 days after discharge.

CONCLUSIONS

Around 7% of opioid-naïve patients with musculoskeletal pain receiving opioid therapy continue opioid use at 3-12 months after ED discharge. SAEs following ED administration of an opioid were uncommon; however, studies only monitored patients for 2 days.

PROTOCOL REGISTRATION

10.31219/osf.io/w4z3u.

Effectiveness of Opioid Analgesic Medicines Prescribed in or at Discharge From Emergency Departments for Musculoskeletal Pain : A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

The comparative benefits and harms of opioids for musculoskeletal pain in the emergency department (ED) are uncertain.

PURPOSE

To evaluate the comparative effectiveness and harms of opioids for musculoskeletal pain in the ED setting.

DATA SOURCES

Electronic databases and registries from inception to 7 February 2022.

STUDY SELECTION

Randomized controlled trials of any opioid analgesic compared with placebo or a nonopioid analgesic administered or prescribed to adults in or on discharge from the ED.

DATA EXTRACTION

Pain and disability were rated on a scale of 0 to 100 and pooled using a random-effects model. Certainty of evidence was assessed using the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) framework.

DATA SYNTHESIS

Forty-two articles were included (n = 6128). In the ED, opioids were statistically but not clinically more effective in reducing pain in the short term (about 2 hours) than placebo and paracetamol (acetaminophen) but were not clinically or statistically more effective than nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or local or systemic anesthetics. Opioids may carry higher risk for harms than placebo, paracetamol, or NSAIDs, although evidence is very uncertain. There was no evidence of difference in harms associated with local or systemic anesthetics.

LIMITATIONS

Low or very low GRADE ratings for some outcomes, unexplained heterogeneity, and little information on long-term outcomes.

CONCLUSION

The risk-benefit balance of opioids versus placebo, paracetamol, NSAIDs, and local or systemic anesthetics is uncertain. Opioids may have equivalent pain outcomes compared with NSAIDs, but evidence on comparisons of harms is very uncertain and heterogeneous. Although factors such as route of administration or dosage may explain some heterogeneity, more work is needed to identify which subgroups will have a more favorable benefit-risk balance for one analgesic over another. Longer-term pain management once dose thresholds are reached is also uncertain.

PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE

None. (PROSPERO: CRD42021275293).

Phlegmasia cerulea dolens causing compartment syndrome

BACKGROUND

Phlegmasia cerulea dolens (PCD) is a rare condition characterized by a severely swollen, cyanotic, blue extremity due to a large proximal (iliofemoral) deep venous thrombosis extending into the collateral veins. Mortality in PCD ranges 20-40%. Due to severely compromised venous drainage, compartment pressures can rapidly increase 16-fold within 6 h, but rarely result in arterial compromise.

CASE REPORT

We present a case of a middle-aged woman with no prior history of deep venous thrombosis, with a blue swollen left leg in intractable severe pain unresponsive to 3 doses of hydromorphone. Her pain was successfully alleviated with IV Lidocaine. Patient was found to have phlegmasia cerulea dolens resulting in compartment syndrome of her left leg. Although the patient initially had no motor function, after catheter-directed thrombolysis and emergent thrombectomy, she regained her motor function and made a full recovery. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Phlegmasia cerulea dolens complicated by severe compartment syndrome is a rare entity. Prompt recognition and treatment are necessary to prevent irreversible limb ischemia and associated morbidity and mortality. IV Lidocaine may be considered as an option for analgesia for such patients.

Efficacy of Intravenous Lidocaine for Pain Relief in the Emergency Department: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective

To compare the efficacy of intravenous (IV) lidocaine with standard analgesics (NSAIDS, opioids) for pain control due to any cause in the emergency department.

Methods

The electronic databases of PubMed, Embase, ScienceDirect, CENTRAL, and Google Scholar were explored from 1st January 2000 to 30th March 2021 and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing IV lidocaine with a control group of standard analgesics were included.

Results

Twelve RCTs including 1,351 patients were included. The cause of pain included abdominal pain, renal or biliary colic, traumatic pain, radicular low back pain, critical limb ischemia, migraine, tension-type headache, and pain of unknown origin. On pooled analysis, we found no statistically significant difference in pain scores between IV lidocaine and control group at 15 min (MD: −0.24 95% CI: −1.08, 0.61 I2 = 81% p = 0.59), 30 min (MD: −0.24 95% CI: −1.03, 0.55 I2 = 86% p = 0.55), 45 min (MD: 0.31 95% CI: −0.66, 1.29 I2 = 66% p = 0.53), and 60 min (MD: 0.59 95% CI: −0.26, 1.44 I2 = 75% p = 0.18). There was no statistically significant difference in the need for rescue analgesics between the two groups (OR: 1.45 95% CI: 0.82, 2.56 I2 = 41% p = 0.20), but on subgroup analysis, the need for rescue analgesics was significantly higher with IV lidocaine in studies on abdominal pain but not for musculoskeletal pain. On meta-analysis, there was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of side-effects between the two study groups (OR: 1.09 95% CI: 0.59, 2.02 I2 = 48% p = 0.78).

Conclusion

IV lidocaine can be considered as an alternative analgesic for pain control in the ED. However, its efficacy may not be higher than standard analgesics. Further RCTs with a large sample size are needed to corroborate the current conclusions.

Lido-OH, a Hydroxyl Derivative of Lidocaine, Produced a Similar Local Anesthesia Profile as Lidocaine With Reduced Systemic Toxicities

Background: lidocaine is one of the most commonly used local anesthetics for the treatment of pain and arrhythmia. However, it could cause systemic toxicities when plasma concentration is raised. To reduce lidocaine’s toxicity, we designed a hydroxyl derivative of lidocaine (lido-OH), and its local anesthesia effects and systemic toxicity in vivo were quantitively investigated.

Method: the effectiveness for lido-OH was studied using mouse tail nerve block, rat dorsal subcutaneous infiltration, and rat sciatic nerve block models. The systemic toxicities for lido-OH were evaluated with altered state of consciousness (ASC), arrhythmia, and death in mice. Lidocaine and saline were used as positive and negative control, respectively. The dose-effect relationships were analyzed.

Results: the half effective-concentration for lido-OH were 2.1 mg/ml with 95% confident interval (CI95) 1.6–3.1 (lidocaine: 3.1 mg/ml with CI95 2.6–4.3) in tail nerve block, 8.2 mg/ml with CI95 8.0–9.4 (lidocaine: 6.9 mg/ml, CI95 6.8–7.1) in sciatic nerve block, and 5.9 mg/ml with CI95 5.8–6.0 (lidocaine: 3.1 mg/ml, CI95 2.4–4.0) in dorsal subcutaneous anesthesia, respectively. The magnitude and duration of lido-OH were similar with lidocaine. The half effective doses (ED₅₀) of lido-OH for ACS was 45.4 mg/kg with CI95 41.6–48.3 (lidocaine: 3.1 mg/kg, CI95 1.9–2.9), for arrhythmia was 16.0 mg/kg with CI95 15.4–16.8 (lidocaine: 3.0 mg/kg, CI95 2.7–3.3), and for death was 99.4 mg/kg with CI95 75.7–124.1 (lidocaine: 23.1 mg/kg, CI95 22.8–23.4). The therapeutic index for lido-OH and lidocaine were 35.5 and 5.6, respectively.

Conclusion: compared with lidocaine, lido-OH produced local anesthesia at similar potency and efficacy, but with significantly reduced systemic toxicities.

Lidocaine coinfusion alleviates vascular pain induced by hypertonic saline infusion: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial

Background

Hypertonic saline solution has been frequently utilized in clinical practice. However, due to the nonphysiological osmolality, hypertonic saline infusion usually induces local vascular pain. We conducted this study to evaluate the effect of lidocaine coinfusion for alleviating vascular pain induced by hypertonic saline.

Methods

One hundred and six patients undergoing hypertonic saline volume preloading prior to spinal anesthesia were randomly allocated to two groups of 53 each. Group L received a 1 mg/kg lidocaine bolus followed by infusion of 2 mg/kg/h through the same IV line during hypertonic saline infusion; Group C received a bolus and infusion of normal saline of equivalent volume. Visual analogue scale (VAS) scores of vascular pain were recorded every 4 min.

Results

The vascular pain severity in Group L was significantly lower than that in Group C for each time slot (P < 0.05). The overall incidence of vascular pain during hypertonic saline infusion in Group L was 48.0%, which was significantly lower than the incidence (79.6%) in Group C (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Lidocaine coinfusion could effectively alleviate vascular pain induced by hypertonic saline infusion.

Trial registration

Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, number: ChiCTR1900023753. Registered on 10 June 2019.

Patient-Reported outcomes of pain care research in the adult emergency department: A scoping review

Despite more than 30 years of research, pain in the emergency department (ED) setting is frequently undertreated. EDs prioritise process measures that often have tenuous links to patient-reported outcomes. However, process measures, such as time to the administration of first analgesic medication, are neither direct objective measures of analgesia nor appropriate surrogate markers of pain relief. Since pain is a subjective symptom that lacks an objective measure, pain research in any clinical environment, including EDs, should rely upon patient-reported outcomes. This scoping review examined patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) of pain care in the adult emergency department at the micro, meso and macro-level over the last ten years. We reviewed pain care research conducted on adults in EDs over the last ten years and identified 57 articles using 14 patient-reported outcomes of pain care falling into five broad areas, most without validation or adaption to the ED setting. Despite efforts made to incorporate PROs and PROMs into acute pain care research in the ED over the last ten years, there is still no gold-standard PROM in widespread use. We recommend the adaptation of existing tools with rigorous validation in ED populations.

Review of nonopioid multimodal analgesia for surgical and trauma patients

Purpose

Pain is a frequent finding in surgical and trauma patients, and effective pain control remains a common challenge in the hospital setting. Opioids have traditionally been the foundation of pain management; however, these agents are associated with various adverse effects and risks of dependence and diversion.

Summary

In response to the rising national opioid epidemic and the various risks associated with opioid use, multimodal pain management through use of nonopioid analgesics such as acetaminophen, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, α 2 agonists, N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists, skeletal muscle relaxants, sodium channel blockers, and local anesthetics has gained popularity recently. Multimodal analgesia has synergistic therapeutic effects and can decrease adverse effects by enabling use of lower doses of each agent in the multimodal regimen. This review discusses properties of the various nonopioid analgesics and encourages pharmacists to play an active role in the selection, initiation, and dose-titration of multimodal analgesia. The choice of nonopioid agents should be based on patient comorbidities, hemodynamic stability, and the agents’ respective adverse effect profiles. A multidisciplinary plan for management of pain should be formulated during transitions of care and is an area of opportunity for pharmacists to improve patient care.

Conclusion

Multimodal analgesia effectively treats pain while decreasing adverse effects. There is mounting evidence to support use of this strategy to decrease opioid use. As medication experts, pharmacists can play a key role in the selection, initiation, and dose-titration of analgesic agents based on patient-specific factors.

Approaching acute pain in emergency settings; European Society for Emergency Medicine (EUSEM) guidelines-part 2: management and recommendations

BACKGROUND

In Europe, healthcare systems and education, as well as the clinical care and health outcomes of patients, varies across countries. Likewise, the management of acute events for patients also differs, dependent on the emergency care setting, e.g. pre-hospital or emergency department. There are various barriers to adequate pain management and factors common to both settings including lack of knowledge and training, reluctance to give opioids, and concerns about drug-seeking behaviour or abuse. There is no single current standard of care for the treatment of pain in an emergency, with management based on severity of pain, injury and local protocols. Changing practices, attitudes and behaviour can be difficult, and improvements and interventions should be developed with barriers to pain management and the needs of the individual emergency setting in mind.

METHODS

With these principles at the forefront, The European Society for Emergency Medicine (EUSEM) launched a programme-the European Pain Initiative (EPI)-with the aim of providing information, advice, and guidance on acute pain management in emergency settings.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

This article provides treatment recommendations from recently developed guidelines, based on a review of the literature, current practice across Europe and the clinical expertise of the EPI advisors. The recommendations have been developed, evaluated, and refined for both adults and children (aged ≥ 1 year, ≤ 15 years), with the assumption of timely pain assessment and reassessment and the possibility to implement analgesia. To provide flexibility for use across Europe, options are provided for selection of appropriate pharmacological treatment.

Pain management in the orthopaedic trauma patient: Non-opioid solutions

When treating pain in the orthopaedic trauma patient opioids have classically represented the mainstay of treatment. They are relatively inexpensive and modestly effective for basic pain management. However, they are fraught with considerable side effects as well as the very high risk of addiction. Their use in pain management has been implicated in the opioid epidemic. For this reason, as well as their only moderate efficacy, alternative modes of treatment have been sought for both the patient with isolated limb trauma and the patient with poly trauma. We review alternative treatment methods in pain management for those with isolated limb trauma and poly trauma. These methods include topical agents, as well as non steroidal anti-inflammatory medications, acetaminophen, gabapetoids, intravenous agents, varying degrees of local anesthetic infiltration and peripheral nerve blocks, and the newer modality of fascial plane blocks. Often, it is a combination of these analgesic modalities that gives the most optimum treatment for the trauma patient. This also, more frequently than not, must be individually tailored to the patient, as no two patients act the same in this regard. It is therefore of importance that the physician managing such patients's pain be experienced and well-versed in all these treatment modalities. We also provide a basic stepwise algorithm we have found useful in treating those with single extremity or single site trauma versus those patients with poly trauma and resultant multiple sources as pain generators. It is hoped that this breakdown of the different modalities along with a better understanding of each modality's potential benefits and indications will aid the surgeon in providing better care to patients following orthopedic trauma.

Pain management in trauma patients affected by the opioid epidemic: A narrative review

Acute and chronic pain in trauma patients remains a challenging entity, particularly in the setting of the escalating opioid epidemic. It has been reported that chronic opioid use increases the likelihood of hospital admissions as a result of traumatic injuries. Furthermore, patients admitted with traumatic injuries have a greater than average risk of developing opioid use disorder after discharge. Practitioners providing care to these patients will encounter the issue of balancing analgesic goals and acute opioid withdrawal with the challenge of reducing postdischarge persistent opioid use. Additionally, the practitioner is faced with the worrisome prospect that inadequate treatment of acute pain may lead to the development of chronic pain and overtreatment may result in opioid dependence. It is therefore imperative to understand and execute alternative nonopioid strategies to maximize the benefits and reduce the risks of analgesic regimens in this patient population. This narrative review will analyze the current literature on pain management in trauma patients and highlight the application of the multimodal approach in potentially reducing the risks of both short- and long-term opioid use. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Narrative review, moderate to High.