Pain Management Interventions for Drug-addicted Patients Admitted in Intensive Care Units: An Integrative Review

Pain management interventions among critically ill drug-addicted patients admitted to ICUs are still the major challenge faced by healthcare practitioners.

Therefore, this study aimed to identify and appraise the pain management approaches of patients with drug addiction (substance use disorder) admitted in ICUs.

An integrative review of the literature was performed; narrative data synthesis was used for data extraction. The search was performed using scientific databases, including Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Ovid Medline and EMBASE from January 2000 to September 2019. All studies that assessed pain management interventions for drug-addicted patients (substance use disorder) admitted in ICUs were included in the review.

Initially, four studies were included in this review. All these studies were Randomized Controlled Trials. The settings were intensive care units in the United States and Iran. The evidence identified from all studies included administration of intravenous paracetamol and midazolam, implementation of Buprenorphine-Naloxone therapy, adjuvant therapy and proper utilization of nursing sedation and pain management interventions for addicted patients admitted in ICUs.

Management of pain in drug-addicted patients admitted in ICUs is relevant to healthcare practitioners, especially critical care nurses, as these patients’ subpopulation is at risk of underestimation of pain levels and not getting appropriate treatment.