CWCA CWCA Pain Management in Wound Care 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which pain assessment tool is most appropriate for a non-verbal patient with a wound?
- Numeric Rating Scale (NRS)
- PAINAD (Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia) (Correct answer)
- Visual Analog Scale (VAS)
- Wong-Baker FACES Scale
Correct answer: PAINAD (Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia)
The PAINAD scale is validated for non-verbal or cognitively impaired patients who cannot self-report pain.
Question 2: Procedural pain during wound dressing changes is best managed by:
- Withholding analgesics to avoid dependency
- Pre-medicating 30–60 minutes before the dressing change (Correct answer)
- Using only topical anesthetics after wound exposure
- Performing dressing changes as quickly as possible without analgesia
Correct answer: Pre-medicating 30–60 minutes before the dressing change
Pre-medicating 30–60 minutes before a dressing change allows systemic analgesics to reach peak effect during the procedure.
Question 3: Which topical agent provides local anesthesia and is commonly used to reduce pain during wound debridement?
- Silver sulfadiazine
- Lidocaine gel (Correct answer)
- Mupirocin ointment
- Zinc oxide paste
Correct answer: Lidocaine gel
Lidocaine gel applied topically before debridement reduces procedural pain by blocking local nerve conduction.
Question 4: A patient describes wound pain as a constant, deep aching sensation even at rest. This is classified as:
- Procedural pain
- Neuropathic pain
- Background (persistent) pain (Correct answer)
- Incident pain
Correct answer: Background (persistent) pain
Background or persistent pain is chronic pain present at rest, distinct from procedural pain caused by treatment or incident pain triggered by movement.
Question 5: Neuropathic pain in chronic wounds is best characterized by which symptom?
- Dull, pressure-like aching
- Burning, shooting, or electric shock sensations (Correct answer)
- Pain only during dressing removal
- Pain that resolves completely between dressing changes
Correct answer: Burning, shooting, or electric shock sensations
Neuropathic pain results from nerve damage and is typically described as burning, shooting, tingling, or electric shock-like.
Question 6: Which of the following dressing characteristics helps minimize pain during removal?
- High adherence to wound bed
- Silicone-based non-adherent contact layer (Correct answer)
- Dry gauze packing
- Wet-to-dry gauze technique
Correct answer: Silicone-based non-adherent contact layer
Silicone-based non-adherent dressings do not bond to the wound bed, allowing atraumatic removal that significantly reduces pain.
CWCA CWCA Pain Management in Wound Care 1
Which pain assessment tool is most appropriate for a non-verbal patient with a wound?