BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Pain is subjective and multidimensional and is common in the postoperative period. This study aimed at identifying intensity and at checking pain records of patients submitted to elective craniotomy. METHOD: This is a descriptive and quantitative study involving 100 patients submitted to craniotomy. Studied variables were age, gender, type of surgery, pain and pain intensity, pain records and the use of analgesics in the postoperative period. Studied variables were submitted to descriptive analysis using central trend measurements, dispersion and ratio analysis. RESULTS: Our study has shown that 59% of patients submitted to craniotomy were females, with mean age of 44.6 ± 14.5 years, 57% were single and had mean ICU and hospital stay of 2.8 ± 2.4 e 21.8 ± 16.9 days, respectively. Brain tumor was diagnosed in 55% of cases and surgery was supratentorial in 90% of patients. Headache was the major postoperative complaint, classified as moderate and continuous by most patients. Most patients had no analgesic medication. Most medical records had no pain recorded by the health team. CONCLUSION: Data show the need for health professionals' improvement to systematically treat and evaluate pain.
Analgesia; Craniotomy; Pain; Pain measurement
