Collaborative Approach Encouraged for Patients with Pain
The treatment goal should not be to “cure” pain but rather to restore function.
The treatment goal should not be to “cure” pain but rather to restore function.
Acute pain is lessened with opioid treatment but depression is associated with reduced response to acute opioid treatment.
For orofacial pain of nondental origin, the pain could be originating from elsewhere.
Understanding why some patients can be more “difficult” than others can involve understanding
personality differences.
Informed consent is critical to decision making, and clear goals permit assessment of treatment.
It is imperative that the United States finds more effective ways to deal with the growing availability and utilization of opiates and other drugs for pain that is compassionate and grounded in medicine.
Pharmacogenomic testing can identify how genetic variations affect drug responses, and help guide treatment strategies for patients suffering from chronic pain.
One of the most difficult “dread to treat” populations is patients with substance use disorders.
Providers must balance risks of under-treatment, abuse and overdose.