ABC of Pain

Chronic pain is a very common problem, impacting on many patients. Assessment and management can be challenging. The ABC of Pain focuses on the pain management issues often encountered in primary care. Covering major chronic pain presentations, such as musculoskeletal pain, low back pain and neuropathic pain, the ABC of Pain also provides guidance on the management of pain in pregnancy, children, older adults, drug dependency and the terminally ill. Beginning with an overview of the epidemiology of chronic pain, pain mechanisms and the assessment of pain, it then provides practical guidance on interventional procedures and methods of effective pain management.    The ABC of Pain is a comprehensive, evidence–based reference. It is ideal for GPs, junior doctors, nurse specialists in primary care, palliative care specialists, and also hospital and hospice staff managing chronically and terminally ill patients.

Contributors vii

Preface ix

1 Epidemiology of Chronic Pain 1
Blair H Smith and Nicola Torrance

2 Pain Mechanisms 5
Carole Torsney and Susan Fleetwood–Walker

3 Evaluation of the Patient in Pain 11
Dennis C Turk and Kimberly S Swanson

4 Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain 16
Paul Dieppe

5 Management of Low Back Pain 20
James Campbell and Lesley A Colvin

6 Neuropathic Pain 25
Lesley A Colvin and Suzanne Carty

7 Visceral Pain 31
James Maybin and Michael G Serpell

8 Post–surgical Pain 37
Susan Nimmo and Lesley Dickson

9 Headache and Orofacial Pain 42
Anne MacGregor and Joanna M Zakrzewska

10 Cancer Pain 48
Marie Fallon

11 Treating Pain in Patients with Drug–dependence Problems 54
Jane C Ballantyne

12 Pain in Children 60
Suellen M Walker

13 Pain in Older Adults 65
Debra K Weiner

14 Pain in Pregnancy 69
George R Harrison

15 Psychological Aspects of Chronic Pain 73
David Gillanders

16 Interventional Procedures in Pain Management 79
Dominic Hegarty and Damian Murphy

17 The Role of Physiotherapy in Pain Management 86
Paul J Watson

18 The Role of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) in Pain Management 91
Mark I Johnson

19 Complementary and Alternative Strategies 99
Margaret Cullen and Fiona MacPherson

20 Opioids in Chronic Non–malignant Pain 103
Eija Kalso

Index 109

Lesley Colvin, Consultant/ Senior Lecturer in Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine, Department of Anaesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK

Marie Fallon, St Columba s Hospice Chair of Palliative Medicine, Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre (CRUK), Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK