Developing a tool to preserve eye contact with patients undergoing colonoscopy for pain monitoring

ping a tool to preserve eye contact with patients undergoing colonoscopy for pain monitoring Hypothesis (931) Total Article Views Authors: Niv Y, Tal Y Published Date August 2012 Volume 2012:4 Pages 103 - 105 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/DHPS.S35241 Received: 21 June 2012 Accepted: 18 July 2012 Published: 24 August 2012 Yaron Niv, Yossi Tal Department of Gastroenterology, Rabin Medical Center, Tel Aviv University, Israel Abstract: Colonoscopy has become the leading procedure for early detection and prevention of colorectal cancer. Patients’ experience of colonic endoscopic procedures is scarcely reported, even though it is considered a major factor in colorectal cancer screening participation. Pain due to air inflation or stretching the colon with an endoscope is not rare during examination and may be the main obstacle to cooperation and participation in a screening program. We propose a four-stage study for developing a tool dedicated to pain monitoring during colonoscopy, as follows: (1) comparison of patient, nurse, and endoscopist questionnaire responses about patient pain and technical details of the procedure using the PAINAD tool during colonoscopy; (2) observation of the correlation between patients’ facial expressions and other parameters (using the short PAINAD); (3) development of a device for continuous monitoring of the patient’s facial expression during the procedure; (4) assessment of the usability of such a tool and its contribution to the outcomes of colonoscopy procedures. Early intervention by the staff performing the procedure, in reaction to alerts encoded by this tool, may prevent adverse events during the procedure.