Treatment outcome of implementing "pain as the 5th vital sign" in the standard of care of pain management among patients admitted in the Department of General Surgery, Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of monitoring pain as the 5th vital sign and the utilization of a protocolized analgesic regimen on pain treatment outcome among patients admitted in the Department of General Surgery. METHODS: Eight hundred fifty (850)admitted patients were included in the study. These were patients who underwent surgery (either trauma or non-trauma cases) and may or may not have had any complaint of pain magnitude. The Department's post operative analgesic regimen protocol (composed of tramadol and ketorolac combination)was followed. Pain scores were monitored every eight hours throughout the patient's hospitalization up to discharge and were documented on the new monitoring sheet of Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center. RESULTS: Of the 850 patients, 629 patients (74 percent) were non-trauma cases and 221 patients (26 percent) were trauma cases. On admission, 313 (51 percent) non-trauma patients and 171 (81 percent) trauma patients experienced severe pain. upon discharge, only 1 (0.6 percent) non-trauma patient continued to be suffering from severe pain and non from trauma cases. Five hundred five (80 percent) non-trauma patients and 140 (63 percent) trauma patients had mild pain, 114 (18 percent) non-trauma patients and 81 (37 percent) trauma patients were totally pain free. CONCLUSION: There was a significant reduction to pain from admission to discharge because patients were intervened appropriately of their respective symptoms by using proactive pain monitoring and providing analgesia using a protocolized analgesic regimen.