PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Bope, Edward T.
AU  - Douglass, Alan B.
AU  - Gibovsky, Alan
AU  - Jones, Tanya
AU  - Nasir, Laeth
AU  - Palmer, Trish
AU  - Panchal, Sunil
AU  - Rainone, Francine
AU  - Rives, Peter
AU  - Todd, Knox
AU  - Toombs, James D.
TI  - Pain Management by the Family Physician: The Family Practice Pain Education Project
AID  - 10.3122/jabfm.17.suppl_1.S1
DP  - 2004 Nov 01
TA  - The Journal of the American Board of Family Practice
PG  - S1--S12
VI  - 17
IP  - suppl 1
4099  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/17/suppl_1/S1.short
4100  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/17/suppl_1/S1.full
SO  - J Am Board Fam Med2004 Nov 01; 17
AB  - Pain is a common complaint of patients who visit a family physician, and its appropriate management is a medical mandate. The fundamental principles for pain management are: placing the patient at the center of care; adequately assessing and quantifying pain; treating pain adequately; maximizing function; accounting for culture and gender differences; identifying red and yellow flags early; understanding and differentiating tolerance, dependence and addiction; minimizing side effects; and being familiar with and using CAM therapies when good evidence of efficacy exists. The pharmacologic management of pain requires thorough knowledge of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, cyclo-oxygenase-2–specific inhibitors, and opioids. A table of equianalgesic dosages is useful because patients may need to move from one opioid to another. Accompanying this article are papers discussing 5 common pain disorders seen by family physicians, including: neck pain, low back pain, joint pain, pelvic pain, and cancer/end of life pain. The family physician who learns these principles of pain management and the algorithms for these common pain disorders can serve patients well.