Validation of The Critical-care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT) for the detection of oral-pharyngeal pain in critically ill adults

- Procedural pain is common in mechanically ventilated patients
- Routine oral procedures incite reactive behaviors ≥50% of intubated patients
- We tested the Critical-Care Pain Observational Tool's ability to detect oral pain
- The Critical-Care Pain Observational Tool can reliably detect procedural oral pain
- Oral procedures are painful for a substantial number of patients