ABSTRACT
Background: Effective pain management is a critical component of emergency medicine, influencing patient outcomes and overall healthcare efficiency. Various pain management protocols are utilized, but their comparative efficacy remains a subject of ongoing research.
Aim: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of different pain management protocols in emergency medicine, evaluating their impact on pain relief, patient satisfaction, and adverse effects.
Methods: This comparative study was conducted at Services Hospital Lahore from October 2023 to September 2024, involving 50 patients presenting with acute pain conditions in the emergency department. Patients were divided into different groups based on the administered pain management protocols, including opioid-based, non-opioid pharmacological, and multimodal analgesia approaches. Pain intensity was assessed using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) at baseline and at multiple intervals post-intervention. Secondary outcomes, such as adverse effects and patient satisfaction, were also recorded.
Results: Patients receiving multimodal analgesia demonstrated the most significant reduction in pain scores (mean reduction: 6.2 ± 1.1 points, p < 0.05), followed by the non-opioid pharmacological group (4.9 ± 1.3 points) and the opioid-based group (4.5 ± 1.5 points). The opioid group exhibited a higher incidence of adverse effects, including nausea and drowsiness (32% of patients). Patient satisfaction scores were highest in the multimodal group, with 85% of participants reporting good-to-excellent pain relief.
Conclusion: The findings suggested that multimodal analgesia provided superior pain relief and patient satisfaction with fewer adverse effects compared to opioid-based and non-opioid pharmacological approaches. These results emphasized the need for protocol optimization in emergency settings to enhance patient outcomes.
Keywords: Pain management, emergency medicine, multimodal analgesia, opioids, non-opioid analgesics, patient satisfaction, adverse effects.