Assessing and managing wound pain

Abstract

Pain assessment and management is an important part of caring for people with wounds. Annemarie Brown provides an overview of the types of wound pain and strategies for minimising and managing it Different wounds produce different types of pain. Pain assessment should form part of the initial wound assessment and be reassessed regularly. Verbal cues and pain assessment tools are useful when assessing pain, and observing non-verbal cues, such as grimacing, guarding the affected area and limited movement can also be helpful. Nurses should stay up to date on how to minimise pain during dressing changes, as this has been shown to cause some of the highest levels of pain. Several types of analgesia can be used to manage wound pain, and the type prescribed should be based on the type of wound pain and level of pain experienced by the patient. It is key that health professionals always acknowledge how pain impacts their patient's quality of life.