er-Kent (2003), at a Canadian hospital, consisted of administering a specific dose of analgesic (acetaminophen) administered around the clock along with opioids administered intermittently. The study indicated that a combination of analgesics and opioids was highly effective in reducing pain and that flexibility on modifying does facilitated situation pain reduction. The article was well-researched and indicative of sound empirical analysis of a pain modification effort.
Blakeley and Paige (2001) examined the pathophysiology of pain in critically ill patients, including patients who had experienced CABG. These researchers contended that various nursing interventions can and should be used to reduce pain via a combination of analgesics and opioids as well as environmental modifications that can reduce pressure on wounds or surgical sites, the use of relaxation training, and provision of massage and other temporary alleviators. Their study, though not focused solely or even primarily upon CABG patients, was useful in identifying the need to tailor pain management strategies to individual patients using a flexible combination of medications that can be modified as needed to address pain management issues.
Milgran, Brooks, Qi, Bunnell, Wuestfield, and Beckman (2004) studied pain patterns over time following CABG in a sample of patients following surgery. They found that pain was most severe on the earliest days following surgery and that pain was most associated with (in descending order), coughing, moving or turning in bed, getting up, deep breathing and/or using the incentive spirometer, and resting. Using a flexible leve
...