Pain management among adult patients with fractures of long bones at Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage and is one of the leading complaints in emergency departments (EDs). Despite the important and the advantages of pain control, still patients do not receive appropriate attention. The objective of this study was to assess pain management among adult patients with fractures of long bones at Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. A descriptive Cross-sectional study design (Hospital based) was used. Total of 250 patients aged 18 - 60 years old with fractures of long bones were recruited from March to June 2008. Structured questionnaires and observation guide were used to collect data. Verbal rating scale was used, to determine the intensity of pain. The study shows that there is no documentation for pain assessment or reassessment at Emergency Department. Slightly above half (54%; 135/250) of patients were not given analgesics. The commonest analgesic given was diclofenac sodium (46%). There was no patient given opioids (pethedine/ morphine). The rate of analgesics administration or splinting before and after admission did not differ between sexes (P=0.314 vs P= 0.230) and (P=0.314 vs P= 0.114), respectively. Almost half (47.0%) of them spent >20 min to 1 hour before the administration of analgesics. After administration of analgesia 76% of the patients continued to have severe to moderate pain. A large proportion (62.4%; N=156/250) of the patients scored their pain as severe. Of these, 28 (17.9%) patients received analgesia within 20 min, 42 (26.9%) after 30-60 min and 73 (46.8%) were not given analgesics at all. In conclusion pain at Moi Orthopaedic Institute is under treated. It is important that this is addressed properly to minimize pains among patients attending hospitals for fracture management.