Vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) in sickle cell disease can cause severe pain and requires a thoughtful approach to analgesia. Considering the heightened awareness of the harm associated with opioids, an exploration of safer and more effective alternatives is overdue. Ketamine may play a role in supplementing or replacing opioid analgesia for patients in VOC. Studies on the use of ketamine for VOC are sparse, though increasing. In this review, we summarize the literature on subdissociative ketamine use for VOC to offer providers insight into the most effective and safe dosing regimens for sickle cell disease patients. Overall, the studies discussed in this review show decreased opioid use when subdissociative ketamine is provided as an adjunct and resolution of pain for most patients when subdissociative ketamine is used as the sole form of analgesia in VOC. Most studies examined intravenous delivery, and successful outcomes were established for both adult and pediatric patients in multiple clinical settings, including in the emergency department. Although more research is needed, it is clear from the published data that subdissociative ketamine may provide an efficacious addition to the clinician’s toolbox for managing VOC.
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Evaluating the Current Opioid Misuse Measure (COMM) as a Tool to Inform Management of Vaso-occlusive Episodes Among Hospitalized Sickle Cell Disease Patients William R. Swindell, Emmanuel Johnson, Min Yi, Augustine Joseph, Michael Burton, Arthur S. Hong The Clinical Journal of Pain.2026;[Epub] CrossRef
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Clin Exp Emerg Med 2022;9(3):198-206. Published online September 20, 2022
Objective Hip fractures are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Ultrasound-guided peripheral nerve blocks are a safe method to manage pain and decrease opioid usage. The pericapsular nerve group (PENG) block is a novel, potentially superior block because of its motor-sparing effects. Through training, simulation, and supervision, we aim to determine whether it is feasible to perform the PENG block in the emergency department.
Methods Phase 1 consisted of emergency physicians attending a workshop to demonstrate ultrasound proficiency, anatomical understanding, and procedural competency using a low-fidelity model. Phase 2 consisted of a prospective, observational, feasibility study of 10 patients with hip fractures. Pain scores, side effects, and opioid usage data were collected.
Results The median pain score at time 0 (time of block) was 9 (interquartile range [IQR], 6.5–9). The median pain score at 30 minutes was 4 (IQR, 2.0–6.8) and 3.5 (IQR, 1.0–4.8) at 4 hours. All 10 patients required narcotics prior to the initiation of the PENG block with a median dosage of 6.25 morphine milligram equivalents (MME; IQR, 4.25–7.38 MME). After the PENG block, only 30% of the patients required further narcotics with a median dosage of 0 MME (IQR, 0–0.6 MME) until operative fixation.
Conclusion In this feasibility study, PENG blocks were safely administered by trained emergency physicians under supervision. We demonstrated data suggesting a trend of pain relief and decreased opiate requirements, and further investigation is necessary to measure efficacy.
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Rib fractures account for a significant number of emergency department visits each year. A patient’s disposition often depends on the severity of rib fractures, comorbidities, and ability to achieve adequate analgesia. We present a 44-year-old male patient with severe pain secondary to rib fractures. The initial disposition was to admit for pain control. However, upon performing a serratus anterior plane block, patient was functionally appropriate for discharge with proper return precautions. Serratus anterior plane block is within the skillset of the emergency physician and can be used to achieve analgesia for rib fractures without the sedative and respiratory depressive effects associated with opioids.
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Pain is one of the most common reasons for patients to visit the emergency department. The ever-growing research on emergency department analgesia has challenged the current practices with respect to the optimal analgesic regimen for acute musculoskeletal pain, safe and judicious opioid prescribing, appropriate utilization of non-opioid therapeutics, and non-pharmacological treatment modalities. This clinical review is set to provide evidence-based answers to these challenging questions.
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10.1016/s1959-5182(23)46578-6
CrossRef Listing of Deleted DOIs.2000;[Epub] CrossRef
Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a quality improvement activity for pain management in patients with extremity injury in the emergency department (ED).
Methods This was a retrospective interventional study. The patient group consisted of those at least 19 years of age who visited the ED and were diagnosed with International Classification of Diseases codes S40–S99 (extremity injuries). The quality improvement activity consisted of three measures: a survey regarding activities, education, and the triage nurse’s pain assessment, including change of pain documentation on electronic medical records. The intervention was conducted from January to April in 2014 and outcome was compared between May and August in 2013 and 2014. The primary outcome was the rate of analgesic prescription, and the secondary outcome was the time to analgesic prescription.
Results A total of 1,739 patients were included, and 20.3% of 867 patients in the pre-intervention period, and 28.8% of 872 patients in the post-intervention period received analgesics (P< 0.001). The prescription rate of analgesics for moderate-to-severe injuries was 36.4% in 2013 and 44.5% in 2014 (P=0.026). The time to analgesics prescription was 116.6 minutes (standard deviation 225.6) in 2013 and 64 minutes (standard deviation 75.5) in 2014 for all extremity injuries. The pain scoring increased from 1.4% to 51.6%.
Conclusion ED-based quality improvement activities including education and change of pain score documentation can improve the rate of analgesic prescription and time to prescription for patients with extremity injury in the ED.
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