Pain assessment tools in critical patients with oral communication difficulties: a scope review

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Pain is a frequent experience in intensive care units and its assessment and handling are challenging to healthcare professionals. The objective of this study was to identify and analyze the available tools to assess pain in patients with oral communication difficulties in intensive care units. CONTENTS: Scope review of the literature in six databases that identified four observational tools to assess pain in critical patients: Behavioral Pain Scale, Critical-Care Pain Observation Tool, Nociception Coma Scale and Nociception Coma Scale-Revised. All tools use behavior indicators of pain and only one is adapted to the Portuguese language. CONCLUSION: The use of a valid, easy to apply instrument, with clear and straightforward descriptions is essential to assess pain in patients with oral communication difficulties in intensive care units. There are good quality tools to assess pain in intensive care units. Most tools, however, are not yet validated to the Portuguese language. Translation and validation studies are necessary so that tools with well-established psychometric properties can be available in our practice.