[Progress of pain assessment and analgesia strategy for mechanical ventilation patients]

Standardized pain assessment is a precondition of appropriate analgesia for mechanical ventilation patients. However, routine pain assessment rates remain very low in intensive care unit (ICU). Behavioral pain scale (BPS) and critical-care pain observation tool (CPOT) can be used to assess pain in mechanical ventilation patients who are unable to report pain by themselves. No matter what strategy we taken, analgesia-first sedation should be used in priority. Meanwhile, patient-centered and goal-directed sedation strategy should be adopted based on the individual condition.If condition permits, patients should be maintained in light states of sedation as long as possible, because this is associated with improved clinical outcomes. Humanistic care, multidisciplinary cooperation and comprehensive training are also important components of a perfect analgesia strategy.