The Italian version of the Nociception Coma Scale.

Pain assessment and management represent a crucial issue in planning rehabilitative programmes and pharmacological therapies in chronic patients. In noncompetent and nonverbally communicative individuals, as for patients in a vegetative state or minimally conscious state, the evaluation of the presence and intensity of pain is often complex. Validated scales and instruments to standardize the observation of patients' behavioural and motor responses to noxious stimuli are needed. The aim of this study is to translate the Nociception Coma Scale from English into Italian. The process of translation and back translation involved four translators and two expert raters. No item received quality ratings below 90 (range 0-100). The Italian version of the Nociception Coma Scale is now available for Italian clinicians and researchers. It will be useful for an accurate management and care planning in rehabilitative and long-term care centres in Italy.