Evaluation of the effects of pain scale and analgesic administration on radiological imaging methods and hospitalization in trauma patients admitted to the emergency service

Background: Trauma, one of the major concerns in today’s world, exposes societies to important economic, social and health-related problems. Trauma is known to account for 10% of the world’s deaths.

Objective: The aim of the study is to evaluate the demographic characteristics of trauma, which is common in emergency services and causes significant loss of workload and function when appropriate diagnosis and treatment methods are not applied, with radiological imaging methods, pain scale and analgesics.

Materials and Methods: This prospective study included 1267 patients over the age of 18, who were admitted to the emergency department due to trauma between 1 January and 31 December 2019. The mean age of patients was 47.01 ± 14.97 year, with a male/female ratio of 1.46. 59.3% of the patients were male and 40.7% were female. Patients’ trauma types, radiology results, mortality, numerical pain scale and analgesic administration were evaluated.

Results: Numerical pain scale score of trauma patients in the emergency department was 6.23 ± 2.02. Analysis of radiological imaging methods showed significance with age, numerical pain scale, thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, thoracic and abdominal injuries, types of trauma, consultation, hospitalization, analgesics administration and pain severity. Trauma types were insignificant with age and gender, but a significant relationship was found with all other parameters. Pain intensity was not correlated with gender and tetanus application but was significant with other variables. There was significance in radiological imaging methods and diagnostic types between injury types. Types of diagnosis were found to be correlated with imaging methods, orthopedic consultation, numerical pain scale and injury types. There was a significant correlation with the types of diagnosis, analgesia administration, consultation, and pain classification according to the pain rating scale. There was no correlation between age and gender according to pain intensity. However, there was a strong positive correlation with pain scale scores, consultation, hospitalization, types of trauma, administration of analgesia, and a weak correlation with radiological imaging methods.

Conclusion: Early pain scale with radiological imaging and analgesic administration in trauma patients can reduce morbidity rates and shorten hospital stay.

Emergency service; Traumas; Numerical pain scale; Radiology; Analgesia

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