Classic Articles Informing the Treatment of Pain

Background and/or Objectives: The World Health Organization has published data indicating that every individual worldwide will experience over nine years of living with a disability, often exacerbated by chronic pain. As PM&R focuses on optimizing function and alleviating suffering, we must know how to treat pain and its associated disabilities. We must must lead the medical community in efforts to reduce the incidence and impact of chronic pain.

Design: We convened a global panel of physicians and pain management specialists to curate a comprehensive set of literature, supplemented by a targeted review and relevant societal guidelines. From this process the seminal articles were identified that inform the clinical practice of pain intervention.

Setting : WHO centres and their affiliates, using telecommunication

Participants : Physician leads at sites in multiple countries

Interventions: The seminal research was identified and summarized with an average of 250 words per summary. These were placed in a standardized format to allow for easy reading. These were collated and placed in a journal format.

Main Outcome Measures: The most recent and relevant seminal research studies that inform the clinical treatment of pain.

Results: Date were obtained from individual literature reviews and reviews of guidelines published by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM), American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA Pain Medicine), European Pain Federation (EFIC), World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and others

Conclusions: The study identified and summarized the seminal studies valuable for the treatment of pain. These were summarized for quick review and use by clinic providers.