Pain Management

Thanoon Thabet, BSN, RN, WTA-C

Chronic wound pain is a complicated condition with both physical and psychological aspects. The magnitude of pain is usually contingent on the depth of the wound and whether an infection is present. Nevertheless, providing adequate pain relief can be challenging due to wound management’s multi-faceted nature. It is essential to understand the physiology of pain, the types, its impact on healing, assessment techniques, and various wound care approaches to develop a comprehensive care plan for patients with wounds.

Wounds have a significant negative impact on patients, including pain, decreased quality of life, and social isolation. Optimal wound healing can help patients and the health care system cope with the burden of chronic wounds. Wound management may not always be the priority in patients whose cases are complicated by severe comorbidities, palliative care, hospice care, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, or management of a chronic condition.

Holly Hovan MSN, GERO-BC, APRN, CWOCN-AP

Pain has been a prevalent health care challenge in the United States for some time, with data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that approximately 16% of men and 20% of women experience pain on most days or even every day.

Wounds typically heal in four sequential but overlapping phases — hemostasis, inflammatory, proliferative and remodeling — ultimately leading to tissue regeneration. Healing sometimes stalls for various reasons, a key one being extensive inflammation, which disrupts the normal cascade of healing and leads to chronic and hard-to-heal wounds. A vicious cycle of ongoing inflammation, pain and poor quality of life often follows. Understanding how to break this cycle is essential for wound care clinicians who want to optimize healing outcomes and patient quality of life.

By Cheryl Carver, LPN, WCC, CWCA, DAPWCA, FACCWS

I have again been inspired by my son to blog on a not so talked about topic, scar tissue pain. I have had patients through the years report scar pain, and I admit I did not know too much about it. I decided to dive into this topic a bit more when my son started experiencing frequent pain in his chest. He had a traumatic injury to the chest 14 months ago that healed in six weeks. There is a large amount of thickened traumatic scar tissue because of the depth of the injury. The pain started approximately two months after the wound healed, and he described it as a sharp stabbing pain that would take his breath away.

By the WoundSource Editors

Wounds of the lower extremity, such as chronic venous leg ulcers and diabetic foot ulcers, often have a severe impact on patients' quality of life. Symptoms may range from mild to debilitating, depending on the location of the injury and its severity. These types of wounds also affect a tremendous number of people because lower extremity wounds are estimated to occur in up to 13% of the United States population. The estimated annual cost of treating lower extremity wounds is at least $20 billion in the United States.

By the WoundSource Editors

The venous leg ulcer (VLU) is the most common type of chronic leg wound, and it can be challenging to manage. VLUs account for up to 90% of all chronic leg ulcers. Proper diagnosis and treatment planning are key to wound healing outcomes. This fact is particularly true for older adults, who have an annual VLU prevalence of 1.7%.

By Heidi Cross, MSN, RN, FNP-BC, CWON

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." – Charles Dicken

When Charles Dickens wrote this introduction to his Victorian-era novel, A Tale of Two Cities, his novel was aimed at the brewing French Revolution, but he could have been writing about the best and worst of modern American health care. His novels depicted how life could be pretty miserable during those times, with no social safety net and no real medical care. Fortunately, times have changed, and we have improved social supports as well as, some would argue, the best health care system in the world (although, sadly, not all people in the United States enjoy access to our great health care system, but I digress).

By Industry News

Houston, TX – October 29, 2019 – Vapogenix, a clinical-stage company developing a new class of topical non-opioid, lidocaine-free analgesics, today announced results of a Phase II clinical trial of its lead product, VPX638, which demonstrate rapid onset and sustained duration of pain relief and reduced opioid use for patients with painful wounds.

Heidi Cross, MSN, RN, FNP-BC, CWON

"Me and Jenny goes together like peas and carrots." – Forrest Gump

Just like Forrest's peas and carrots, a pressure ulcer lawsuit and a pain and suffering allegation inevitably "goes together." For good reason, because pain is an ever-present problem in patients with pressure ulcers, venous and arterial ulcers, and even diabetic ulcers, despite sensory issues. How do you, as a health care provider, best protect and defend yourself against a pain and suffering allegation?