Hello doctor,
Hello. It is not advisable to withhold pain medication while the patient is on multiple antibiotics for the treatment of sepsis. As the patient is suffering from COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), the use of Hydrocodone is not advisable as it causes respiratory depression in an already compromised patient, but the patient should be prescribed alternative analgesia due to the following reasons. First, it is inhuman to allow suffering due to pain. Secondly, pain itself is a cause to maintain the delirium and prevents recovery from it. Thirdly, the recovery from sepsis can be determined by clinical examination and routine blood count. I agree that Hydrocodone can mask the symptoms but there are other pain medications which is safe and can be used in patients. Even simple iv infusion of Paracetamol can be used for pain relief, and it also works as an anti-inflammatory agent. I hope this helps.