Mandated pain scales improve frequency of ED analgesic administration.

A retrospective study design was used to determine the effect of introducing a mandated verbal numeric pain scale on the incidence and timing of analgesic administration in the ED. Consecutive patients presenting with renal colic, extremity trauma, headache, ophthalmologic trauma, and soft tissue injury were included. 521 encounters were reviewed before and 479 encounters after the introduction of the pain scale.