Pain Management in the 21st Century - Abstract
Adequate pain management is largely underserved to patients not only in the US, but globally as well. Although there are well documented research and evidenced based practices that exist, they have not translated to current clinical pain management care for patients. The Committee on Advancing Pain Research, Care, and Education: Institute of Medicine, released a national publication in 2011 titled “Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education and Research” which addressed that effective pain management practices in the US are at best, not realized. Adverse consequences of ineffective pain management effect physiologic, psychological and social components in which various population groups uniquely experience, and can be life altering for patients having an intense impact on the patients’ quality of life. Multiple barriers contribute to ineffective pain management, the most critical being patient perception and subjectivity. Improved pain management practices have been implemented, yet knowledge regarding pain management, physiology, science and research remain minimal.