Like management of disease, management of pain is as old as the human race. When patients come to us with their pain, they present us with a wonderful opportunity: the chance to understand them, to understand how their pain is affecting their lives, the challenge of discovering what is causing their pain, and finally the opportunity to prescribe medications and lifestyle changes to help them gain relief from their pain. It is hoped that this book will provide the latest evidence-based updates on pain management in special circumstances and will serve as a ready reference for those embarking on pain management. Its intent is not to be a heavy book that can only be stored on a bookshelf, but a pocket-sized reference that can be carried, be easily navigated, and be available whenever a conceptual gap compromises pain physicians and their ability to treat their patients.

Like management of disease, management of pain is as old as the human race. When patients come to us with their pain, they present us with a wonderful opportunity: the chance to understand them, to understand how their pain is affecting their lives, the challenge of discovering what is causing their pain, and finally the opportunity to prescribe medications and lifestyle changes to help them gain relief from their pain. It is hoped that this book will provide the latest evidence-based updates on pain management in special circumstances and will serve as a ready reference for those embarking on pain management. Its intent is not to be a heavy book that can only be stored on a bookshelf, but a pocket-sized reference that can be carried, be easily navigated, and be available whenever a conceptual gap compromises pain physicians and their ability to treat their patients.

Primum non nocere... The fact that a surgical procedure can leave any kind of pain casts a shadow over this tenet, which is seen as the basis of medical practice and anchor of its principle ethic... It is all the more surprising in that medicine has only paid attention to this paradoxical chronic pain situation for the past few years. Clarifying the knowledge acquired in this field has become all the more urgent for any care-giver today confronted by a legitimate request from patients: Why and how can a surgical procedure, which is supposed to bring relief, leave behind an unacceptable sequela? This is the approach which the contributors to this new subject of major clinical interest invite you to follow as you work your way through this book.

Drug overdose, driven largely by overdose related to the use of opioids, is now the leading cause of unintentional injury death in the United States. The ongoing opioid crisis lies at the intersection of two public health challenges: reducing the burden of suffering from pain and containing the rising toll of the harms that can arise from the use of opioid medications. Chronic pain and opioid use disorder both represent complex human conditions affecting millions of Americans and causing untold disability and loss of function. In the context of the growing opioid problem, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched an Opioids Action Plan in early 2016. As part of this plan, the FDA asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to convene a committee to update the state of the science on pain research, care, and education and to identify actions the FDA and others can take to respond to the opioid epidemic, with a particular focus on informing FDA's development of a formal method for incorporating individual and societal considerations into its risk-benefit framework for opioid approval and monitoring.

No other book on the subject Chronic diseases, especially those associated with poor nutrition, obesity, and addiction have grown to epidemic proportion in many poor and minority populations Covers all essential topics, including Navigating Language Barriers, Understanding Disability, Patient Education, Substance Abusers, the Care of Gay and Lesbian Patients, Reproductive Issues in Poor Women, and much more

This textbook provides an overview of pain management useful to specialists as well as non-specialists, surgeons, and nursing staff.

Chronic pain costs the nation up to $635 billion each year in medical treatment and lost productivity. The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act required the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to enlist the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in examining pain as a public health problem. In this report, the IOM offers a blueprint for action in transforming prevention, care, education, and research, with the goal of providing relief for people with pain in America. To reach the vast multitude of people with various types of pain, the nation must adopt a population-level prevention and management strategy. The IOM recommends that HHS develop a comprehensive plan with specific goals, actions, and timeframes. Better data are needed to help shape efforts, especially on the groups of people currently underdiagnosed and undertreated, and the IOM encourages federal and state agencies and private organizations to accelerate the collection of data on pain incidence, prevalence, and treatments. Because pain varies from patient to patient, healthcare providers should increasingly aim at tailoring pain care to each person's experience, and self-management of pain should be promoted. In addition, because there are major gaps in knowledge about pain across health care and society alike, the IOM recommends that federal agencies and other stakeholders redesign education programs to bridge these gaps. Pain is a major driver for visits to physicians, a major reason for taking medications, a major cause of disability, and a key factor in quality of life and productivity. Given the burden of pain in human lives, dollars, and social consequences, relieving pain should be a national priority.