Beliefs about pain control in patients with a chronic ischemia of lower limb

Objective: The aim of the research was the analysis and evaluation of the beliefs on the pain control in patients with a chronic ischemia of lower limb.
Material and methods: Research was conducting among the group of 27 patients with a chronic ischemia of lower limb at The Chair and Clinic of Surgery – Medical University in Bydgoszcz. In the research took part the patients with the third stage of chronic ischemia of lower limb, according to Fountain’s classification, without any ulcers or the cell death changes. All the patients were qualified to revascularization surgery. The research was conducted by the diagnostic poll method with the use of Z. Juczynski’s standardized sheet in validation i.e. Beliefs About Pain Control Questionnaire (BPCQ) and the Personal Information Questionnaire of the self-construction. There was evaluated the level of the pain intensity before the surgery operation and on the 2nd, 4th and 6th day after.
Results: The average of ischaemia pain intensity before the surgery operation was 5.89 p according to the numerical scale parameters. In the smokers the pain intensity was higher. On the 6th day after the surgery operation the pain intensity was 2.85 p. The analysis of the BPCQ sheet results showed that the tested group of patients had belonged to the “strong-exterior type”. In the pain control the main significance was attributed to the doctors’ influence and medical care, but the lowest for the self-abilities to fight the pain.
Conclusions: The intensity of ischaemia pain in the patients with the chromic ischemia of the lower limb in pre-operation period is high, but after the revascularization surgery is being decreased systematically. With the increase of the pain intensity the belief in the influence of the medical care on the pain control was getting lower but the belief in the interior self-control was increasing. On the belief about the pain control, the demographic factors, did not have an influence. The location of the interior control did not depend on the duration of illness.