Providing the Right Expectations: Understanding the Pathophysiology of Pain

It can be difficult and daunting to evaluate patients with chronic pain, as the nervous system is complex and knowing which type of pain the patient is experiencing – neuropathic, nociceptive, or nociplastic – is the best guide for where clinicians should focus their treatment choices; the fact that there is no clinical way to diagnose sensitization only adds to the difficulty. It’s important for clinicians to think of what the actual mechanisms of a medication are and how to use them in a rational way to help decrease pain.

There is rarely a medication that will decrease pain completely, but patients should at least experience positive effects on their level of function and quality of life. Dr. Steven Stanos discusses the importance of providing the right expectations for patients, “You have to set the right expectation for the patient. If the patient has a poor understanding of their pain condition, there is this thought that is not accurate – that we can give a medicine for everything. There is rarely a medicine that is going to decrease their pain completely. It’s important to tie the pain score to functional outcomes – what can they now be doing?”

In this free CME Snack, Dr. Gold and Dr. Stanos focus on the pathophysiology of pain and the underlying mechanisms to assessment and appropriate management and share insights on ways to properly educate patients about their pain to optimize safe and effective multimodal treatment plans.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this CE activity, participants should be able to:
Apply knowledge of acute and chronic pain pathways and underlying mechanisms to clinical assessment and appropriate management of pain.
Educate patients about their pain to optimize safe and effective, multimodal treatment plans.