Paralyzed with pain: the need for education

Abstract

This report surveyed the pharmacologic knowledge of the physician housestaff and intensive care nurses regarding the analgesic and anxiolytic effects of narcotics, benzodiazepines and neuromuscular blockers. The results demonstrated a commonly held misconception that muscular paralysis is a calm and painless state. The authors instituted an educational program stressing the need for analgesic and anxiolytic medications in conjunction with paralytic agents.