Quotes About Analgesia

On the basis of a recent meta-analysis,25,26 continuous peripheral analgesic techniques provide superior analgesia, reduce opioid consumption, and reduce opioid-related side effects (nausea and vomiting, sedation, pruritus). This technique is not commonly used in the ICU setting, but it opens a wide range of possibilities for the future treatment of acute pain in critically ill

Management essentials in the ICU: FASTHUG F=feeding. A=analgesia. S=sedation. T=thrombo-embolism prophylaxis. H=head of the bed elevated (30–45°). U=ulcer prophylaxis (PPI or H2 antagonists). G=glucose control.

Several sedation scales—the Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale (RASS), Adaptation to the Intensive Care Environment (ATICE) tool, and the Minnesota Sedation Assessment Tool (MSAT)—as well as tools for assessment of analgesia in the ICU, such as the visual analog scale, the numeric rating scale, behavioral pain scale,7,8 and critical care pain observation scale, have been developed (Figure 3-1).

Results have not been encouraging. We seem up against a dilemma built into Nature, much like the Heisenberg situation. There is nearly complete parallelism between analgesia and addiction. The more pain it takes away, the more we desire it. It appears we can't have one property without the other, any more than a particle physicist can specify position without suffering an uncertainty as to the particle's velocity—

He mentioned a grim truism in analgesia research known as the "30 rule"—that the existing pain drugs generally reduce pain by 30 percent in 30 percent of people—"and before we start treating them, we have no idea who is going to respond or not.