A single subcutaneous dose of tramadol for mild to moderate musculoskeletal trauma in the emergency department

摘要

BACKGROUND： Mild to moderate musculoskeletal trauma is a common cause for anemergency room visit, and frequent pain is one of the cardinal symptoms of consultation. Theobjective of this study is to assess the perception of a single subcutaneous dose of 50 mg tramadolfor pain management in patients with mild to moderate musculoskeletal trauma, likewise to appraisethe perception of pain by subcutaneous injection.METHODS： A total of 77 patients, who met inclusion criteria, received a single subcutaneousdose of tramadol. Pain control was evaluated based on the verbal numerical pain scale （0-10） atbaseline, 20 and 60 minutes; similarly, pain perception was evaluated secondary to subcutaneousinjection of the analgesic.RESULTS： On admission, the average pain perceived by patients was 8; twenty minutes later,89% of the patients reported fi ve or less, and after sixty minutes, 94% had three or less on the verbalnumerical pain scale. Of the patients, 88% reported pain perception by verbal numeric scale of 3 orless by injection of the drug, and 6.5% required a second analgesic for pain control. Two events withdrug administration （soft tissue infection and mild abdominal rectus injection） were reported.CONCLUSION： We conclude that a single subcutaneous dose of tramadol is a safe andeffective option for the management of patients with mild to moderate pain and musculoskeletaldisease in the emergency department.