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
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