Pain Management in the Emergency Chain: The Use and Effectiveness of Pain Management in Patients with Acute Musculoskeletal Pain

Abstract

Objective: While acute musculoskeletal pain is a frequent complaint in emergency care, its management is often neglected, placing patients at risk for insufficient pain relief. Our aim is to investigate how often pain management is provided in the prehospital phase and emergency department (ED) and how this affects pain relief. A secondary goal is to identify prognostic factors for clinically relevant pain relief. Design: This prospective study (PROTACT) includes 697 patients admitted to ED with musculoskeletal extremity injury. Data regarding pain, injury, and pain management were collected using questionnaires and registries. Results: Although 39.9% of the patients used analgesics in the p..