11
Table III. Verbal numeric rating pain scale
Rating Pain level
0 No pain
1–3 Mild pain (nagging, annoying, interfering little with
activity of daily living [ADLs])
4 –6 Moderate pain (interferes significantly with ADLs)
7–10 Severe pain (disabling ; unable to perform ADLs)
Presentation
➤ The most common presenting symptom of TBAD is pain. The severity
of pain should be reported with a verbal numeric rating pain scale.
➤ Further to enhance the knowledge base for aortic dissection, all
comorbidities and surgical history should be documented along with
blood pressure, acuity of the dissection, severity and duration of pain,
changes in patient status, any high-risk radiographic features such as
measurements of aortic diameter and length of tear, and malperfusion,
either "radiographic" or actual, of brain (Table V), spinal cord (Table
VI), kidneys (Table IV), viscera (Figure 12) or lower extremities.
