Severe pain during wound care procedures: A cross-sectional study protocol

The aim of this study is to: (a) develop and evaluate a model to predict severe pain during wound care procedures (WCPs) so that high-risk patients can be targeted for specialized dressings and preventive pain control; and (b) identify biological factors associated with severe pain during WCPs so that novel pain control strategies can be developed.

Wound care procedures such as dressing changes can cause moderate to severe pain in 74% of patients, with nearly half (36%) of all patients experiencing severe pain (rated as 8-10 on a 10-point numeric rating scale) during dressing change. Additionally, clinicians have little direction with current guidelines regarding pain control during WCPs including the selection of the appropriate advanced wound dressings and the appropriate use of analgesics.

This is a cross-sectional study.

The National Institute of Nursing Research approved and funded the study June of 2015 and the appropriate Institutional Review Board approved all study protocols prior to funding. Study enrolment is underway at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics with a target of 525 participants. Potential participants must be adults (21+ years) and have a nonburn, nondiabetic foot, full-thickness wound. The research team performs a one-time study dressing change on enrolled participants and collects all study data.

This study will allow the development of a tool for clinicians to use to predict severe pain during WCPs and identify biological factors significantly associated with severe pain during WCPs.