Abstract

Background and Aim: Pain management is crucial in emergency departments, and timely administration of analgesics significantly impacts patient satisfaction. However, many hospitals lack standardized protocols for analgesic administration in triage rooms by nurses. This study aimed to assess the impact of analgesic administration in the triage room on timely pain management in traumatic patients with extremity bone fractures.
Methods: A cohort study was conducted in the emergency department, enrolling patients with traumatic extremity bone fractures. Upon triage, eligible patients were observed based on whether they received ketorolac or no analgesic (control group). Pain severity was evaluated using the Numeric Analogue Scale, and adverse effects and patient satisfaction were also assessed. The collected data were coded and entered into SPSS version 24 for statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the data, and comparisons between the exposed (ketorolac) and non-exposed (control) groups were performed using the chi-squared test (χ²), independent t-test, and paired t-test, with a significance level set at p < 0.05.
Results: The study included a total of 1000 traumatic patients. The ketorolac group exhibited significantly lower pain severity at 30 minutes and 60 minutes compared to the control group (P < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in adverse effects between the two groups (P = 0.468). Additionally, patients who received ketorolac required fewer subsequent analgesics and reported higher satisfaction with the intervention (P < 0.001).
Conclusion: The findings demonstrate that ketorolac administration in the triage room resulted in a significant reduction in pain severity among traumatic patients with bone fractures, and it was associated with increased patient satisfaction.

Key words: analgesics, fractures, multiple trauma, pain, triage