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Pain Management

Doctor holding medication and writing a prescription

Pain Management Report Released

The Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force released its final report on acute and chronic pain management best practices, Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov  [PDF - 5.7 MB] calling for a balanced, individualized, patient-centered approach to care.

Meeting the Needs of Chronic Pain Patients

Meeting the needs of patients struggling with chronic pain while at the same time preventing the illegal or harmful use of opioids are two important challenges prescribers face. This website provides basic information for clinicians to consider when creating patient-centric chronic pain management treatment plans.

What Is Chronic Pain?

Chronic pain is defined as persistent pain, which can be either continuous or recurrent and of sufficient duration and intensity to adversely affect a patient's well-being, level of function, and quality of life. Chronic pain is persistent, typically 3 months or more, and exists beyond an expected time for healing. The cause of pain may not be removable or otherwise treated. It may occur despite generally accepted medical treatment.

What Are Opioids?

Throughout the site, we refer to opioids, which are natural or synthetic derivatives of opium that act on the central nervous system to relieve pain. The term "opioid" is used to distinguish pain medications from illegal narcotics used to induce euphoria.

If you decide to use some of the information from this site, make sure you understand and consider the following: