Non-pharmacological interventions for pain management in adult victims of trauma: a scoping review protocol.

OBJECTIVE: This scoping review aims to map non-pharmacological interventions for reducing acute pain for adult victims of trauma.

INTRODUCTION: Acute pain, as a consequence of either a pathological or traumatic event or even due to invasive and non-invasive healthcare procedures, is highly prevalent in critically ill patients. However, specific acute pain as a direct consequence of trauma is one of the least studied areas of acute pain.

INCLUSION CRITERIA: This scoping review will consider studies on adult victims of trauma, aged 18 years or over, in prehospital emergency care, emergency departments and trauma centers. All studies that focus on non-pharmacological interventions designed to reduce acute pain, implemented and evaluated by health professionals in any form, duration, frequency and intensity, will be considered.

METHODS: An initial search of PubMed and CINAHL will be undertaken, followed by a second search for published and unpublished studies from 2000 to the present in major healthcare related electronic databases. Studies in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese will be included. Data extraction will be performed independently by two reviewers in tabular form and include details about the interventions, populations, study methods and outcomes of interest. A narrative synthesis will accompany the results and will describe how they relate to the review objectives.