• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.3-13
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• 2013

Chronic noncancer pain is a significant and growing public health challenge in the United States. Lacking effective alternative interventions for effective chronic noncancer pain management, many physicians have turned to opioid pharmacotherapy. Increased opioid prescribing brings not only gains in therapeutic benefit but also a higher incidence of adverse drug events including increased medication misuse and opioid related mortality. Currently the United States must confront the dual problems of widespread undertreated chronic noncancer pain and a prescription opioid abuse crisis. Withholding pain relieving drugs from patients in need is unjustifiable, yet drug diversion, abuse and adverse drug events have become major social as well as medical problems. At the heart of this crisis is the lack of definitive evidence about the risk to benefit ratio of opioid pharmacotherapy for chronic noncancer pain both on an individual case and on a population basis. This article describes the extent and severity of the American chronic noncancer pain problem and the history of opioid pharmacotherapy for chronic noncancer pain in the United States. It then discusses the concept of evidence based practice and reviews current evidence supporting opioid pharmacotherapy for chronic noncancer pain as well as adverse drug events related to opioid pharmacotherapy including misuse and abuse. Finally, it considers the conflict of providing pain relief versus protecting society and reviews steps that governmental agencies, industry and others are taking to contain and ultimately resolve the problems of excessive prescribing and conflicting priorities.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2019

Purpose: This study was done to develop a evidence-based guideline for pain assessment and management in Korea by adapting previously developed pain guidelines. Methods: The guideline adaptation process was conducted using 24 steps according to the guideline adaptation manual developed by Hospital Nurses Association in 2012. Results: The newly developed pain management guideline consisted of 9 domains and 234 recommendations. The number of recommendations in each domain was: 13 general instruction items, 51 pain assessments, 14 pain interventions, 66 pharmacological interventions for acute pain, 41 pharmacological interventions for chronic cancer pain, 35 pharmacological interventions for chronic noncancer pain, 21 non-pharmacological interventions, 2 documentations, 10 nursing education items, for pain. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the new pain management guideline can be used to address pain in hospital settings.