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Options in prehospital analgesia
Meredith L Borland1, Ian Jacobs, Ian R Rogers
1Department of Emergency Medicine, Princess Margaret Hospital, Perth Western Australia, Australia. mezzyb@bigpond.com
Emergency Medicine (Fremantle, W.A.)
|May 8, 2002
Summary
Prehospital pain relief for paramedics is limited, with few high-quality studies. More research is needed for safe and effective pain management during transport.
Area of Science:
- Emergency Medicine
- Pain Management
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Prehospital analgesia options for paramedics are limited.
- Achieving effective pain relief without compromising patient transport is challenging.
- Current prehospital care has recognized inadequacies in pain relief.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify current prehospital analgesia methods.
- To evaluate available pain relief options for paramedics.
- To highlight areas for future research in prehospital pain management.
Main Methods:
- Conducted a literature review of Medline and Embase databases.
- Performed hand searching of references from identified papers.
- Analyzed and categorized literature based on National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia guidelines (1999).
Main Results:
- A paucity of randomized controlled trials exists for prehospital analgesia.
- Published literature consists of Level III or IV prospective/retrospective studies.
- Commonly used drugs include nitrous oxide/oxygen, nalbuphine, tramadol, and opiate agonists.
Conclusions:
- Evidence supporting prehospital analgesic options is limited.
- There is a need for innovative methods for safe and effective prehospital analgesia.
- Well-constructed trials are required to prospectively evaluate new methods.