Comparison of Bispectral Index Monitoring With the Critical-Care Pain Observation Tool in the Pain Assessment of Intubated Adult Patients After Cardiac Surgery

Pain Assessment and Management for a Chemically Paralyzed Child Receiving Mechanical Ventilation

BACKGROUND

Pain assessment in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) is complex, specifically for children receiving mechanical ventilation who require neuromuscular blockade (NMB). No valid pain assessment method exists for this population. Guidelines are limited to using physiologic variables; it remains unknown how nurses are assessing and managing pain for this population in practice.

OBJECTIVES

To describe how PICU nurses are assessing and managing pain for children who require NMB.

METHODS

A cross-sectional quantitative design was used with an electronic survey. Nurses were asked to respond to 4 written vignettes depicting a child who required NMB and had a painful procedure, physiologic cues, both, or neither.

RESULTS

A total of 107 PICU nurses answered the survey. Nurses primarily used behavioral assessment scales (61.0%) to assess the child's pain. All nurses reported that physiologic variables are either moderately or extremely important, and 27.3% of nurses used the phrase "assume pain present" formally at their organization. When physiologic cues were present, the odds of a nurse intervening with a pain intervention were 23.3 times (95% CI, 11.39-53.92; P < .001) higher than when such cues were absent.

CONCLUSIONS

These results demonstrate variation in how nurses assess pain for a child who requires NMB. The focus remains on behavioral assessment scales, which are not valid for this population. When intervening with a pain intervention, nurses relied on physiologic variables. Decision support tools to aid nurses in conducting an effective pain assessment and subsequent management need to be created.

The utility of bispectral index monitoring in flexible bronchoscopy: A single-center, retrospective observational study

BACKGROUND

The desired depth of sedation during flexible bronchoscopy is one in which verbal contact is possible whenever necessary. Although it is common that the depth of sedation is assessed by validated instruments such as the modified observer's assessment of alertness and sedation (MOAA/S) score, the repeated stimulation associated with the assessment can affect the sedation. The bispectral index (BIS) has been widely used for general anesthesia due to its objective and noninvasive nature. However, the utility of BIS monitoring and a target BIS value for use during bronchoscopy have not been fully elucidated.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective observational study to assess the utility of the BIS value for monitoring conscious sedation during bronchoscopy at Kobe University Hospital from August 2020 to April 2021.

RESULTS

Eighteen patients underwent bronchoscopy with BIS monitoring. The BIS value significantly correlated with the MOAA/S score (r = 0.2, p < 0.01), and the correlation was stronger in sufficiently sedated patients (r = 0.486, p < 0.01). The lowest MOAA/S score during the procedure was highly correlated with the BIS value (r = 0.625, p < 0.01). The BIS monitoring seemed to be more sensitive to changes in the sedation level than the MOAA/S score, heart rate and mean arterial pressure. The median BIS value at an MOAA/S score of 3-4, the desired depth of sedation, was 82.0.

CONCLUSIONS

BIS value is useful for monitoring sedation during bronchoscopy. This study suggests that a BIS value of 82 reflects an adequate level of sedation.

Cerebral monitoring in surgical ICU patients

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

To give an overview of cerebral monitoring techniques for surgical ICU patients.

RECENT FINDINGS

As the burden of postsurgical neurological and neurocognitive complications becomes increasingly recognized, cerebral monitoring in the surgical ICU might gain a relevant role in detecting and possibly preventing adverse outcomes. However, identifying neurological alterations in surgical ICU patients, who are often sedated and mechanically ventilated, can be challenging. Various noninvasive and invasive techniques are available for cerebral monitoring, providing an assessment of cortical electrical activity, cerebral oxygenation, blood flow autoregulation, intracranial pressure, and cerebral metabolism. These techniques can be used for the diagnosis of subclinical seizures, the assessment of sedation depth and delirium, the detection of an impaired cerebral blood flow, and the diagnosis of neurosurgical complications.

SUMMARY

Cerebral monitoring can be a valuable tool in the early detection of adverse outcomes in surgical ICU patients, but the evidence is limited, and clear clinical indications are still lacking.

Efficacy of bilateral erector spinae block for post-operative analgesia in liver hydatid surgery

Background

Erector spinae plane (ESP) block is a recently described interfacial block, and since 2016, studies have shown that it is a safe technique related to the lower risk of neurovascular and pleural injury comparing to epidural or paravertebral blockade. The application of ESP block in abdominal surgery is relatively limited to case reports and small population studies, which is why we believe every new case of its application should be a valuable contribution.

Case presentation

With this present case, we explored the efficacy of bilateral ESP block as a post-operative analgesia technique for liver hydatid surgery on a 56-year-old patient. Ultrasound-guided bilateral ESP block was applied at T₇ level, while the patient was awake before general anaesthesia induction. The local anaesthetic used was 20 mL ropivacaine (0.375%) and 2 mg dexamethasone on each side. After recovery from anaesthesia, she reported mild pain (visual analogue score of 5 on effort). After 12 hours post-operatively, she received only one dose of paracetamol 1 g considered as rescue analgesic. She did not experience nausea and vomiting episodes. We noted a sensory block extending from T₄ to T₁₀.

Conclusion

To our knowledge, it may be the first adult bilateral single-shot case report for this specific procedure. This technique appears to be safe and effective on post-operative analgesia for this type of surgery; however, prospective studies comparing ESP block to other techniques are needed.

Pain assessment of the adult sedated and ventilated patients in the intensive care setting: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

Pain is frequently encountered in the intensive care setting. Given the impact of pain assessment on patient outcomes and length of hospital stay, studies have been conducted to validate tools, establish guidelines and cast light on practices relating to pain assessment.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the extent, range and nature of the evidence around pain assessment practices in adult patients who cannot self-report pain in the intensive care setting and summarise the findings from a heterogenous body of evidence to aid in the planning and the conduct of future research and management of patient care. The specific patient cohort studied was the sedated/ ventilated patient within the intensive care setting.

DESIGN

A scoping review protocol utilised the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis extension for Scoping review checklist (PRISMA-ScR).

METHODS

The review comprised of five phases: identifying the research question, identifying relevant studies, study selection, charting the data and collating, summarizing, and reporting the results. Databases were systematically searched from January to April 2020. Databases included were Scopus, Web of Science, Medline via Ovid, CINAHL COMPLETE via EBSCO host, Health Source and PUBMED. Limits were applied on dates (2000 to current), language (English), subject (human) and age (adult). Key words used were "pain", "assessment", "measurement", "tools", "instruments", "practices", "sedated", "ventilated", "adult". A hand search technique was used to search citations within articles. Database alerts were set to apprise the availability of research articles pertaining to pain assessment practices in the intensive care setting.

RESULTS

The review uncovered literature categorised under five general themes: behaviour pain assessment tools, pain assessment guidelines, position statements and quality improvement projects, enablers and barriers to pain assessment, and evidence appertaining to actual practices. Behaviour pain assessment tools are the benchmark for pain assessment of sedated and ventilated patients. The reliability and validity of physiologic parameters to assess pain is yet to be determined. Issues of compliance with pain assessment guidelines and tools exist and impact on practices. In some countries like Australia, there is a dearth of information regarding the prevalence and characteristics of patients receiving analgesia, type of analgesia used, pain assessment practices and the process of recording pain management. In general, pain assessment varies across different intensive care settings and lacks consistency.

CONCLUSION

Research on pain assessment practices requires further investigation to explore the causative mechanisms that contribute to poor compliance with established pain management guidelines. The protocol of this review was registered with Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/25a6) Tweetable abstract: Pain assessment in intensive care settings lacks consistency. New information is needed to understand the causative mechanisms underpinning poor compliance with guidelines.

Behavioral Pain Assessment Tool: Yet Another Attempt to Measure Pain in Sedated and Ventilated Patients!

The interesting study by Mitra et al. in this issue explores this newly developed pain assessment tool- Behavior pain assessment tool (BPAT) for critical patients who cannot communicate. The authors explored the tool in a prospective survey in 400 adults, noncomatose intensive care unit (ICU) patients. BPAT scoring was done within 2-3 hours of admission in ICU, followed by every day in the morning, and also before and after ICU procedures associated with pain. The BPAT scoring was done by untrained senior residents independent of each other. Majority of the patients had BPAT score of ≤3 (initial score in 83.5% and baseline score in 74.5% patients). In all, 56.5% patients had a postprocedure pain score of ≤3, highlighting the role of institutional sedation-analgesia protocol, as all patients received either morphine or fentanyl infusion along with midazolam infusion. Grimace was the most liked behavior (67%) by the observers, whereas closed eyes was the least liked (59%). Closed eyes behavior was felt to have poor utility in paralyzed, ventilated patients. Authors feel that as verbal and bodily responses could not be assessed in these patients, the BPAT can be further modified to observe pain in such patients. The behaviors like verbal complaints, muscle rigidity, and clenched fist were also liked less. For most behavior patterns liked by observers, the κ coefficient was quite high (>0.9). The BPAT tool was found easy to understand (93.3%) and apply (91.8%) by untrained observers. Most observers (59.25%) considered that the time spent on calculating BPAT was short, although the timelines have not been defined. The study again confirms that sedated, paralyzed, and ventilated patients are the most difficult group for assessment of pain. Interobserver variability may lead to subjective bias. The study has not looked at the impact of BPAT scoring on reduction or adjustment of opioid needs of these patients. Further studies may throw more light on the practical applications of BPAT score, and comparative studies between BPAT, behavioral pain scale (BPS), and critical-care pain observation tool (CPOT) would be very interesting.

HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE

Pande RK. Behavioral Pain Assessment Tool: Yet Another Attempt to Measure Pain in Sedated and Ventilated Patients!. Indian J Crit Care Med 2020;24(8):617-618.

A Psychometric Analysis Update of Behavioral Pain Assessment Tools for Noncommunicative, Critically Ill Adults

This is an updated, comprehensive review of the psychometric properties of behavioral pain assessment tools for use with noncommunicative, critically ill adults. Articles were searched in 5 health databases. A total of 106 articles were analyzed, including 54 recently published papers. Nine behavioral pain assessment tools developed for noncommunicative critically ill adults and 4 tools developed for other non-communicative populations were included. The scale development process, reliability, validity, feasibility, and clinical utility were analyzed using a 0 to 20 scoring system, and quality of evidence was also evaluated. The Behavioral Pain Scale, the Behavioral Pain Scale-Nonintubated, and the Critical-Care Pain Observation Tool remain the tools with the strongest psychometric properties, with validation testing having been conducted in multiple countries and various languages. Other tools may be good alternatives, but additional research on them is necessary.

Behavior of a dual closed-loop controller of propofol and remifentanil guided by the bispectral index for postoperative sedation of adult cardiac surgery patients: a preliminary open study

A dual-loop controller permits the automated titration of propofol and remifentanil during anesthesia; it has never been used in intensive care after cardiac surgery. The goal of this preliminary study was to determine the efficacy of this controller to provide postoperative sedation in 19 adult cardiac surgery patients with a Bispectral Index target of 50. Results are presented as numbers (percentages) or medians [25th-75th percentiles]. The sedation period lasted 139 min [89-205] during which the Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale was at - 5 and the Behavioral Pain Scale score at three points for all patients and observation times but one (82 out of 83 assessments). Sedation time in the range 40-60 for the Bispectral Index was 87% [57-95]; one patient had a period of electrical silence defined as Suppression Ratio at least > 10% for more than 60 s. The time between the end of infusions and tracheal extubation was 84 min [63-129]. The Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale was 0 [0-0], 0 [- 1 to 0], and 0 [0-0] respectively during the 3 h following extubation while the verbal numerical pain scores were 6 [4.5-7], 5 [4-6], and 2 [0-5]. Mean arterial pressure decreased during sedation requiring therapeutic interventions, mainly vascular filling in 15 (79%) patients. Automated sedation device was discontinued in two patients for hemodynamic instability. No patient had awareness of the postoperative sedation period. Dual closed-loop can provide postoperative sedation after cardiac surgery but the choice of the depth of sedation should take into account the risk of hypotension.

Evaluation of Observational and Behavioural Pain Assessment Tools in Nonverbal Intubated Critically Adult Patients after Open - Heart Surgery: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

Over 70% of patients hospitalised in an intensive care unit (ICU) often experience moderate to severe pain due to pre-existing diseases, trauma, surgery, aggressive procedures, and routine ICU care. Many patients hospitalised in ICU are not able to speak and express their pain due to various causes, including mechanical ventilation, reduced consciousness, and administration of sedative drugs. Therefore, the use of observational and behavioural pain tools is recommended in this group of patients given their inability to express pain.

AIM

To examine the existing observational and behavioural tools for assessment of in Nonverbal Intubated Critically Adult Patients after Open-Heart Surgery.

METHODS

A systematic review of available observational and behavioural tools for assessment of pain was undertaken using the COSMIN checklist. A literature search was conducted using the following databases: Ovid, Science Direct, Scopus, PubMed, and CINHAL databases, Google Scholar search engine as well as Persian resources Sid, Magiran, Iran doc, and IranMedex up to the end of 2017 were reviewed.

RESULTS

A total of 47 studies that had examined five tools used in intensive care units after cardiac surgery in patients under mechanical ventilation were reviewed. Each of the five tools included behavioural and observational items, and only one tool had physiological items. All the tools had been evaluated regarding validity and reliability. In the three tools, sensitivity, specificity, responsiveness, and satisfaction were considered.

CONCLUSION

Based on available evidence and investigations, CPOT and BPS tools have good validity and reliability to be used in pain assessment in Nonverbal Intubated Critically Adult Patients after Open-Heart Surgery. The NVPS tool requires more studies to be further confirmed before the assessment of pain in this group of patients.