Table 4.
Pain assessment and treatment at three pediatric care settings.
| Characteristic | Academic Pediatric Hospital ED (n=200) | General Academic Pediatric ED (n=100) | Community ED (n=92) | P-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pain assessed at triage, n, % | 134, 67% | 87, 87% | 67, 73% | 0.001 |
| Mean pain score* | 2.1 ±3.4 | 3.8 ±4.1 | 4.8 ± 3.5 | 0.003 |
| Pain relievers given during ED visit | ||||
| Acetaminophen | 13, 7% | 4, 4% | 6, 7% | 0.66 |
| Ibuprofen | 14, 7% | 13, 13% | 22, 24% | <0.0001 |
| Oral narcotic | 16, 8% | 14, 14% | 20, 22% | 0.004 |
| Topical anesthetic† | 57 of 92, 62% | 54 of 74, 73% | 0 | <0.0001 |
| Infiltrated anesthetic (lidocaine)‡ | 23 of 92, 25% | 22 of 74, 30% | 34 of 50, 68% | <0.0001 |
| Discharged with any pain medication | 38 of 152, 25% | 64, 64% | 35 of 82, 43% | <0.0001 |
| Discharged with a narcotic pain medication | 7 of 152, 5% | 9, 9% | 19 of 82, 23% | <0.0001 |
*
Triage pain scale of 1–10 completed for 63 academic pediatric hospital ED patients, 12 general academic ED patients and 28 community ED patients. The remaining scores were either using the Wong Baker Faces scale or a descriptive assessment.
†
Topical anesthetic use is only reported for patients who underwent an incision and drainage procedure.
‡
Infiltrated anesthetic was only used in incision and drainage patients.
ED, emergency department