Question

A nursing home resident requests pain medication for knee joint pain related to inflammation. He/She states the pain is 3 on a 0 to 10 pain scale. Orders are on the chart for all of the following medications. Which medication should the nurse choose first to relieve the patient's pain?
a) Ibuprofen (Advil)
b) Acetaminophen (Tylenol)
c) Hydromorphone (Dilaudid)
d) Acetaminophen/oxycodone (Vicodin)

Answer 1

The most commonly used pain scale is 0 to 10 pain scale. The categorization of pain on this scale is as follows:

0 means no pain, perfectly normal.

1 to 3 means mild pain.

4 to 6 means moderate and severe depending on the score.

7 to 9 means very severe pain.

10 means worst pain possible.

In the given scenario, the patient has a pain of 3/10 on the pain scale. It means he/she experiences mild pain.

According to the ANALGESIC LADDER proposed by WHO, mild pain is treated with non-opioids like acetaminophen, ibuprofen etc. So in this question, we can eliminate the options C and D as they are opioids. The remaining answers are acetaminophen and ibuprofen. Since this patient's pain is due to inflammation, ibuprofen is the best option as it is an NSAID and is best recommended for inflammations and pain due to arthritis and all. Acetaminophen is also a pain killer but the anti inflammatory property is less when compared to ibuprofen.

Therefore, the first drug recommended for this patient is IBUPROFEN