Prospective, 10-year evaluation of the impact of Hispanic ethnicity on pain management practices in the ED.

Introduction: Hispanic ethnicity has been reported as an independent risk factor for oligoanalgesia in the emergency department (ED).

Objectives: The objectives are to compare pain management practices in White and Hispanic patients in the ED to determine whether treatment differences exist.

Methods: Prospective analysis of a convenience sample of patients presenting to an urban, academic, tertiary-care ED over the 10-year period from 2000 to 2010.

Longitudinal trends in the treatment of abdominal pain in an academic emergency department.

Background: Abdominal pain is a top chief complaint of patients presenting to Emergency Departments (ED). Historically, uncertainty surrounded correct management. Evidence has shown adequate analgesia does not obscure the diagnosis, making it the standard of care.

Geriatric patients may not experience increased risk of oligoanalgesia in the emergency department.

Study Objective: The aim of this study is to compare the pain management practices in geriatric patients in the emergency department (ED) with that in other adult ED patients to determine whether these patients face increased risk of oligoanalgesia.

Methods: This study was a prospective analysis of a convenience sample of patients presenting to an urban academic tertiary care hospital ED from 2000 through 2010. We compared patients aged 65 years and older (geriatric) with adults younger than 65 years and evaluated analgesic administration rates, opioid administration and dosing, and pain and satisfaction scores (0 to 10 scale).

Resolution of acute pain following discharge from the emergency department: the acute pain trajectory.

Unlabelled: We demonstrate and evaluate a method for modeling acute pain resolution in individual patients over 6 days following an emergency department visit for an acutely painful condition. Five hundred and thirteen patients presenting with acutely painful conditions provided 11-point numerical ratings of pain intensity at discharge from an emergency department and daily thereafter for a total of 6 days. Latent growth curve modeling with a linear fit yielded measures of initial pain intensity (intercept) and rate of pain resolution (slope) for each individual patient.

Prospective evaluation of the treatment of pain in the ED using computerized physician order entry.

Background: Treatment of pain in the emergency department (ED) is a significant area of focus, as previous studies have noted generally inadequate treatment of pain in ED patients. Previous studies have not evaluated the impact of computerized physician order entry (CPOE) on the treatment of pain in the ED. We sought to evaluate treatment of pain before and after implementation of CPOE in an academic ED.