Causes of pain
The expert panel was asked to rank in order,
with 1 being the highest and 8 being the lowest,
their perception of the most common causes of
pain at dressing change from a predetermined list
(Table 4). There was agreement that in hospital
and community settings, infection was ranked
the highest likely cause of pain at dressing
change. In general, inappropriate dressing choice
(as initiated by a care worker) was the second
most frequent cause of pain at dressing change.
Inappropriate dressing choice as initiated by the
patient was the third highest ranked cause of pain
in the community setting. However, this was
considered the lowest cause of pain within the
hospital environment. In the follow-up question:
‘How frequently is inappropriate dressing
selection a cause of dressing-related pain?’ the
expert panel estimated this accounted for more
than 41% of dressing-related pain irrespective of
the care setting.