Acute Pain Management Clinics

Online, December 22, 2009 (Newswire.com) - Unrelieved pain, in addition to making the life of the patients miserable can cause additional health problems and a corresponding increase in health bills. The quick relief from pain or even its reduction means a shorter hospital stay. Clinics directed at the management of acute pain can provide both non-pharmacological and pharmacological analgesic treatment. Their areas of expertise would include the management of acute pain: following a trauma or operation, in severe medical maladies, in the form of obstetric pain, and that appears after burns.

Ideally, acute pain management clinics should strive towards achieving four goals. First and most important of the goals is of course alleviation of the pain and lessening of its incidence. Closely related to this first goal is another goal which is to minimize post-operative complications. A third goal for the team of acute pain management professionals which would most probably be headed by an anesthesiologist, would be to ensure and enhance the satisfaction and comfort of the patient. Lastly, patients should be educated about how important it is to convey details about their seemingly unending pain. One can't deny that the patient's own report of his pain is the most dependable of all and it is based on this report that a pain management plan is devised.

Acute pain can lead to symptoms of depression and withdrawal. That is why, psychiatrists or psychologists in acute pain management clinics offer behavioural therapies to the sufferers to make them feel better about themselves. This treatment is offered in conjunction with all the usual pain management techniques including:
• The provision of analgesic drugs
• Physical therapy
• Administration of opoid, trigger point or other injections
• TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation)

Good acute pain management clinics are those which provide individualized pain management. The medication for the particular patient for example would be determined considering factors such as the patient's age, personality, liver function, any surgery performed, and fitness; and also the drug's side-effects. Ultimately, it's the duty of these clinics to ensure that the patient can go back to his daily routine with less pain and a smile.