Assessment of the Care of Acute Pain at the Trauma Center of Ouagadougou - Abstract
Introduction: Pain is a frequent reason for patients visit in trauma centers, but it care remains insufficient for many reasons. The goal of this study was to assess the care of pain at the trauma center of the Yalgado Ouedraogo University hospital in Ouagadougou.
Methods: Observational study concerning the care of pain for patients admitted in the trauma center during the study timeframe.
Results: In total, pain was evaluated in 174 patients during the study timeframe. The patients’ sex ratio was 2 with a mean age of 31.3 +/-11 years. The mean time before the first clinical exam was 9 minutes. The main traumatic injuries were cutaneous wounds (39.1%), bone fractures (33.3%), and muscular contusions (11.5%). The pain was assessed for 54% of patients. The assessment involved non systematic questioning in 91.1% of cases. An analgesic treatment was administered to 80.5% of patients. This treatment was exclusively made of medications containing an association of acetaminophen and nefopam for 36.2% of patients. Morphine and peripheral nerves blockers have never been used. The pain was relieved in 67.4% of patients after the treatment and 58.6% of the patients were entirely satisfied with the care at the discharge time from the trauma center.
Conclusion: Pain management at the trauma center remains insufficient. The training of the staff and the use of validated therapeutic protocols would improve patients comfort and the quality of care.