A Systematic Review of Pain Assessment in Mechanically Ventilated Patients

Pain self-report is the gold standard of pain assessment. Mechanically ventilated patients cannot self-report the pain due to the presence of a tracheal tube and changes in the level of consciousness caused by sedation, exposing them to the risk of inadequate pain management that leads to psychological and physiological consequences. This study aimed to present a review of the published evidence and studies concerning the scales used in pain assessment in mechanically ventilated patients according to their psychometric characteristics and application in the nursing practice.

We conducted a systematic review following PRISMA guidelines. National and international journals in such databases as Science Direct, PubMed, EMBASE, Pro Quest Central, Web of Science, SID, and Magiran were searched using Persian and English keywords, and retrieved articles were included in this review based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria.

22 articles were included in this review based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. According to the research objectives, findings were extracted from selected articles and reviewed in two sections: 1] validity and reliability, and 2] clinical application.

Scales of CPOT and BPS are superior to NVPS, and a combination of BPS and CPOT improves the pain detection accuracy, and vital symptoms should be used cautiously for pain assessment along with objective measures due to poor evidence. Moreover, rapid and effective pain relief plays an important role in the improvement of psychological and physiological consequences.