ABSTRACT
A survey of the International Association for the Study of Pain members in low resource settings revealed 91% of members reported limited education was the main barrier to pain management. The perception amongst healthcare professionals can influence pain management strategies; for example, Chan et al. reported while surgeons recognised effective pain management improved recovery, they also found 70% of surgeons felt patients should expect pain post-operatively. Effective pain management in critical care allows endotracheal tube (ETT) tolerance, mechanical ventilation, suctioning and other distressing procedures to be undertaken, co-operation with care, reduce stress response and cause less disturbing memories. Assessing pain in a critically ill patient can be challenging, due to sedation or an ETT preventing communication, resulting in pain often being underassessed and undertreated. Critically ill patients often require continuous infusions of both short-acting analgesia and sedations if ventilated. Examples include: analgesics: morphine or fentanyl and sedations: midazolam or propofol.
