Craig M Dale1, Sarah Carbone1, Alicia Lara Gonzalez2, Karen Nguyen3, Julie Moore4, Louise Rose5,6. 1. Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 2. Department of Critical Care, Humber River Regional Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 3. Department of Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 4. Department of Critical Care, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 5. Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care, King's College London, London, UK. 6. Department of Critical Care Medicine and Sunnybrook Research Institute, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Abstract
Background: Intubated and mechanically ventilated patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) may experience pain during routine oral procedures such as oral suctioning and tooth brushing. Despite the importance of pain prevention and management, little is known about patients' experiences of procedural oral pain. Aims: The aim of this study was to explore patients' recollections and recommendations for pain and discomfort during routine oral procedures. Methods: A qualitative descriptive design was used. Adult patients were recruited from a mixed medical-surgical-trauma ICU in an academic hospital in Toronto, Canada. Participants were interviewed using object elicitation methods within 7 days of discharge from the ICU. Data were analyzed using directed content analysis methods. Results: We recruited 33 participants who were primarily male (23, 70%), with an average age of 54 (SD = 18) years, admitted with a medical (13, 39%), trauma (11, 33%), or surgical (9, 27%) diagnosis and dentate (27, 82%). Most participants described oral procedures as painful, discomforting, and emotionally distressing. Identified sources of pain included dry, inflamed oral tissues and procedural technique. Procedural pain behaviors were perceived to be frequently misinterpreted by clinicians as agitation, with consequences including physical restraint and unrelieved suffering. Participants advocated for greater frequency of oral care to prevent oral health deterioration, anticipatory procedural guidance, and structured pain assessment to mitigate the dehumanizing experience of unmanaged pain. Conclusions: Patients described routine oral care procedures as painful and recalled suboptimal management of such pain. Procedural oral pain is an important target for practice improvement.
Background: Intubated and mechanically ventilated patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) may experience pain during routine oral procedures such as oral suctioning and tooth brushing. Despite the importance of pain prevention and management, little is known about patients' experiences of procedural oral pain. Aims: The aim of this study was to explore patients' recollections and recommendations for pain and discomfort during routine oral procedures. Methods: A qualitative descriptive design was used. Adult patients were recruited from a mixed medical-surgical-trauma ICU in an academic hospital in Toronto, Canada. Participants were interviewed using object elicitation methods within 7 days of discharge from the ICU. Data were analyzed using directed content analysis methods. Results: We recruited 33 participants who were primarily male (23, 70%), with an average age of 54 (SD = 18) years, admitted with a medical (13, 39%), trauma (11, 33%), or surgical (9, 27%) diagnosis and dentate (27, 82%). Most participants described oral procedures as painful, discomforting, and emotionally distressing. Identified sources of pain included dry, inflamed oral tissues and procedural technique. Procedural pain behaviors were perceived to be frequently misinterpreted by clinicians as agitation, with consequences including physical restraint and unrelieved suffering. Participants advocated for greater frequency of oral care to prevent oral health deterioration, anticipatory procedural guidance, and structured pain assessment to mitigate the dehumanizing experience of unmanaged pain. Conclusions: Patients described routine oral care procedures as painful and recalled suboptimal management of such pain. Procedural oral pain is an important target for practice improvement.
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