Question

A patient recovering from full-thickness burns rates pain as a 9 on a scale of 0 to 10 when hydrotherapy is performed. For which type of pain should this patient be treated?

1) Referred
2) Procedural
3) Background
4) Breakthrough

Answer 1

A patient with full-thickness burns experiencing severe pain rated at 9 during hydrotherapy should be treated for procedural pain, which occurs during therapeutic procedures. Effective pain management may include analgesics or sedatives.

Step-by-step explanation:

A patient recovering from full-thickness burns rates pain as a 9 on a scale of 0 to 10 when hydrotherapy is performed. The type of pain this patient should be treated for is procedural pain. Procedural pain is associated with treatments or therapeutic procedures, like hydrotherapy, which can be particularly painful for burn victims due to the involvement of damaged tissue and nerve endings.

For managing such high levels of pain during procedures, a comprehensive pain management plan that may include medications, such as analgesics or sedatives, and other supportive therapies, can help minimize the patient's discomfort. Due to the nature of full-thickness burns, which damage both the epidermis and the deeper layers of skin, including nerve endings, the procedural pain can be intense and requires appropriate medical intervention.