Acute Pain Management and Procedural Sedation in the Emergency Department: A Comprehensive Clinical Guideline

Evidence-based guideline for multimodal analgesia, opioid stewardship, ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia, and procedural sedation agents and protocols in the ED.

4 articles • Updated Mar 2026

Acute Pain & Procedural Sedation — Part 4: Specific Pain Scenarios, Discharge Management & Quality Metrics

Renal colic, fractures, headache, sickle cell crisis, burns, pediatric procedural pain, geriatric considerations, discharge multimodal prescribing, opioid alternatives, PDMP requirements, and quality metrics.

guidelines•Mar 2026•guidelines

Acute Pain & Procedural Sedation — Part 3: Topical & Local Anesthesia and Procedural Sedation

LET gel, EMLA cream, lidocaine buffering, hematoma block, intra-articular injection, sedation continuum, pre-sedation assessment, sedation agents with complete dosing, ketamine considerations, modified Aldrete score, and recovery criteria.

guidelines•Mar 2026•guidelines

Acute Pain & Procedural Sedation — Part 2: Opioid Analgesics & Regional Anesthesia in the ED

Opioid dosing tables, equianalgesic conversions, intranasal fentanyl, opioid stewardship, risk assessment tools, ultrasound-guided nerve blocks, local anesthetic agents, and LAST protocol.

guidelines•Mar 2026•guidelines

Acute Pain & Procedural Sedation — Part 1: Pain Assessment & Non-Opioid Analgesics

Pain assessment scales (NRS, VAS, FACES, FLACC, PAINAD), oligoanalgesia prevention, and first-line non-opioid analgesics including acetaminophen, NSAIDs, subdissociative ketamine, IV lidocaine, trigger point injections, and nitrous oxide.

guidelines•Mar 2026•guidelines