Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Chronic pain management guidelines

The management of chronic pain has been a major public health issue over the last few decades. In April 2010, the Chronic Pain Management Task Force of the American Society of Anesthesiologists published their updated practice guidelines for the management of chronic pain. The practice guidelines offer doctors and patients a starting point for making treatment decisions in cases of chronic pain and were originally published by the Society in 1997.

However, chronic pain management is currently a divisive health issue due to the opioids used to treat some manifestations of pain. Many doctors and treatment professionals look to the World Health Organization (WHO) for guidance regarding such issues. First developed in 1998, the WHO guidelines for chronic pain management began to be updated in 2008 to broaden their scope based on the Delphi study in 2007. Read more about the WHO guidelines for chronic pain management based on the three-step pain relief ladder.

Or click here to read about the more specific and patient-oriented recommendations of the Chronic Pain Management Task Force.

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