Causing Factors to Determine Whether to Administer Analgesics for Patients with Isolated Long Bone Fracture in Emergency Department

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Many patients complain of pain due to fracture in the emergency department (ED). However, pain management in these patients has not been performed well. The objective of this study is to describe analgesic utilization and assess factors associated with analgesic use in patients with isolated long-bone fractures during the ED visit. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed electronic medical records of patients presenting to two EDs with an isolated long bone fracture from January to December 2012. A total of 358 patients were enrolled, and sex, age, arrival route, mechanism of injury, fracture type, fracture location, drug used for pain control, arrival time, physician in charge primary care, and disposition were analyzed. RESULTS: Analgesics were administered to 50% of patients between 20~60 years, whereas 11.3% of patients under 20 years old and 38.7% above 60 years old (p<0.01) received analgesics. Better pain control was achieved in females, young adults, patients cared for by emergency medicine residents, and visits made by emergency medical service or at dawn. CONCLUSION: The pain control rate of children is lower than that of adults in patients with an isolated long bone fracture. Active strategies for pain management are necessary by triage physicians from this time forward.