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Managing acute pain in HIV+/AIDS patients: knowledge and practice trends among emergency physicians of major tertiary care centers of a developing country.

Aliya AhmedGauhar AfshanRobyna Irshad KhanBadar AfzalSeemin JamaliNighat FarooqSarosh SaleemRubaba NaeemUzma Khan
Published in: BMC research notes (2020)
Out of 84 physicians who participated, 49 had managed HIV+/AIDS patients during the preceding year. Out of the 49, 30 (61.2%) physicians stated that they used a combination of analgesics for acute pain in these patients. Forty-two (50%) out of the 84 participants believed that routine doses of opioids were adequate for pain relief, while 42 (50%) agreed that pain management was more complex in these patients mainly due to presence of multiple coexisting problems and psychological issues. Only 26 (31%) respondents considered that pain was under-reported and under-treated in these patients, mainly because physicians were more focused on patients' other disease related complications and issues. Formulation of guidelines are recommended for effective acute pain management in these patients encompassing associated issues, including concomitant painful conditions, opioid dependence, psychiatric problems, etc.
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