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Abstract

 
Abstract No.:C-D3156
Country:Nigeria
  
Title:PATTERN OF ANALGESIC PRESCRIPTION IN THE ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT .
  
Authors/Affiliations:1 Olusola Idowu*; 1 Arinola Sanusi; 1 Rasaq Yusuf;
1 University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria
  
Content:Objective: To determine the current analgesic prescription pattern in the accident and emergency department of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State.

Method: This was a study done using simple questionnaire to obtain data relating to the cadre and specialty of the respondents as well as analgesic prescribed by medical doctors working in the accident and emergency department of the University College Hospital Ibadan.

Results: A total of forty five {45} medical doctors took part in the study of which twenty one, 21[46.66%] were junior residents from various departments of the hospital i.e. Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Anaesthesia and Internal medicine, eleven,11[24.44%] were Medical officers working primarily in the accident and emergency section of the hospital, ten, 10[22.22%] were House Officers that have routed through the accident and emergency department and three, 3[6.67%] were senior registrars from the surgical departments that have worked in the accident and emergency department of the hospital.
The commonest analgesic prescribed in the accident and emergency department for management of acute pain in the university college hospital currently is Pentazocine with 57.78% of the respondents preferring to use pentazocine. Pethidine is the second commonest analgesic prescribed in the A@E 32% of our respondents. The result was similar for the doctors that primarily work in the A@E. Forty four percent{44.44%} of our respondents do not access the severity of pain in patients with acute pain. When asked what influenced the choice of analgesic prescribed, 55.55% of our respondents indicated that doctor’s assessment other than pain score determines the analgesic they prescribe.
Intramuscular route is the commonest route of analgesic administration in our A@E, 23{51.11%} of our respondents while 21{46.67%} preferred the intravenous route. Fifteen of our respondents {33.33%} do not know how to administer morphine while 9{20%} indicated that morphine is titrated to clinical effect. Seventeen {37.77%} will not use morphine even if readily available. Among these 17 respondents, 12{70.58} will not use morphine because of the risk of respiratory depression, while 3[17.645} were afraid of addiction in the management of acute pain.

Conclusion: This study showed that there is urgent need to intensify education and awareness campaign on the use of opioid analgesics for acute pain management in the accident and emergency department

  
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