St George’s Hospital is ‘leading the way’ in managing pain relief of injured patients by being one of the first hospitals to use a new drug.

Penthrox (inhaled methoxyflurane), also known as ‘The Green Whistle’, is a patient-controlled, inhaled medication which provides pain relief from acute pain.

St George’s Hospital, in Tooting, has been using inhaled methoxyflurane for more than six months to relieve acute pain from injuries such as wounds, soft tissue injuries and broken bones.

It has been particularly used in A&E settings.

Dr Kevin Enright, emergency department consultant at St George’s Hospital, said: “Usually patients with trauma injuries need an assessment room and undergo sedation and regular monitoring as they are treated with pain-relieving drugs, including morphine, codeine and intravenous paracetamol, some of which are invasive or require sign off and collection from the controlled drug cabinet.

“When patients are given a Penthrox inhaler it is quicker and easier to treat an injury like a shoulder dislocation; the patient is in control of their own pain relief and staff time and bed space is freed up.”

When asked about the reason for using Penthrox and the results seen so far, Dr Enright added: “We started looking into the use of Penthrox as we wanted to provide early effective pain relief to patients in a busy department such as ours.

“The key advantage of Penthrox has been the time it has been saving in the emergency room. Registrars can now give a rapid assessment and provide a Penthrox inhaler immediately, allowing patients to self-manage their pain relief and reduce distress within minutes of walking into the A&E.”

Penthrox is licensed for emergency relief of moderate to severe pain in conscious and adult patients with trauma and associated pain.

It is currently being evaluated by St George’s Hospital to determine wider areas of use in pain management.

For more information, visit: http://www.stgeorges.nhs.uk

Got a news story? Send it to: nick.kituno@newsquest.co.uk