Pain Management

Pain management is a multidisciplinary approach of medicine intended to improve the quality of life for the patient who otherwise is limited by sufferings caused by pain. The analysis of pain and its origin is critical in the entire course of pain management. The specialty of pain is mainly comprised of a team from various sections of medicine such as Physicians, anesthesiologists, psychiatrists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and nurses.

The typical approach followed in pain management would be as follows.

Diagnosis of pain - identifying the reason for pain is the first step towards relieving the pain for the patient. Once the underlying pathology is treated then the pain is relieved for the patient. This process of identifying the underlying pathology can be achieved by the following standard method

Patient interview

Pain history details such as development and timing, intensity, character, associated symptoms, aggravating and relieving factors, previous treatment etc.

Medical history details such as Review of systems, past medical history, past surgical history will provide the clinician with valuable inputs which may directly or indirectly be related to the present condition of the patient.

It also provides the information on present condition which is either sequel to the chronic condition present in the past or not.

Drug history is as important as any other because it gives the information of what drugs the patient has taken to help the pain and what effect those drugs had in relieving the pain.

Social history element such as personal history, family history and occupational history will give the clinician an indication about the patient life style, psychological factors, habits, genetic profile etc, which might directly or indirectly have an significance on the present condition

Patient examination

Physical examination generally follows the history recording. This is the step in which the clinician identifies the signs of the diseases, the clinician correlates the symptoms given by the patient while he does the physical examination. The clinician will do elaborate physical examination of the entire body to understand and assess the impact leading to the present condition of the patient, as well as to assess the risk factors for any procedures being considered for pain management.