Clinical assessment and risk stratification for prehospital use of methoxyflurane versus standard analgesia in adult patients with trauma pain

Oligoanalgesia, the undertreatment of trauma-related pain using standard analgesics in prehospital and emergency departments, has been extensively documented as one of the major challenges affecting the effective treatment of trauma-related pain. When administered in low doses, methoxyflurane has been highlighted by numerous medical works of literature to provide an effective, nonopioid, nonnarcotic treatment alternative to standard analgesics for prehospital and emergency department use. Low-dose methoxyflurane has been associated with fast-pain relief in adult patients manifesting moderate-to-severe pain symptoms. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the clinical implication of low-dose methoxyflurane use in prehospital and emergency departments in adult patients with moderate-to-severe trauma-related pain. Moreover, the review aimed at assessing the risk stratification associated with using low-dose methoxyflurane in prehospital and emergency departments. The systematic review and meta-analysis performed a comprehensive search for pertinent literature assessing the implications and risks of using low-dose methoxyflurane in adult patients exhibiting moderate-to-severe trauma-related pain in prehospital settings. A comparison between the use of low-dose methoxyflurane and standard-of-care analgesics, placebo, in prehospital settings was reported in four clinically conducted randomized controlled trials (RCTs). These RCTs included the STOP! trial, InMEDIATE, MEDIATA, and the PenASAP trials. A meta-analysis comparing the time taken to achieve first pain relief on initial treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe trauma-related pain favored the use of low-dose methoxyflurane to the standard-of-care analgesics (mean difference = −6.63, 95% confidence interval = −7.37, −5.09) on time taken to establish effective pain relief. Low-dose methoxyflurane has been associated with superior and faster pain relief in prehospital and emergency departments in adult patients exhibiting moderate-to-severe trauma-related pain compared to other standard analgesics.