Pain Management in Cardiac Surgery

Pain Management in Cardiac Surgery
INTRODUCTION:

Pain is an unpleasant sensation caused by noxious stimulation of sensory nerve endings. Moseby Dictionary (1990), p 866. A nursing diagnosis accepted by the fourth National Conference on Classification of Nursing Diagnosis.

As a symptom pain is defined as a state in which an individual experiences and reports the presence of severe discomfort or an uncomfortable sensation. Moseby Dictionary (1990), p 866. Pain assessment is an evaluation of the factors that alleviate or exacerbate a patient’s pain. The patient where possible is asked to describe the cause of pain and its intensity and location. Moseby Dictionary (1990), p 866.

Response to pain varies widely among individuals and depends on many different physical and psychological factors, such as pain threshold, fear and anxiety, and ethnicity of the individual involved and the way that they experience their pain. Clinical judgment in pain management in patients, appea...