Chronic Pain

An estimated one in five adults in the United States had chronic pain in 2021, with 6.9% experiencing intense pain that limited their daily activities, according to the CDC.

The FDA has approved Prospera, a spinal cord stimulation system to treat those with chronic intractable pain in the upper body and limbs.

The FDA has granted clearance to Neuspera Medical for its novel implantable system to treat chronic peripheral nerve pain.

Patients with chronic pain who received long-term opioid therapy had reductions in both pain and daily opioid doses following the use of an online pain management program, a recent study found.

In this issue of Healio Rheumatology, we have touched upon a topic that is incredibly important not only for our field of rheumatology, but for health care in general — namely, the issue of chronic pain and all its dimensions.

This month, our featured roundtable assembled an esteemed panel of experts on pain to help unravel the complexities we face with our patients who have chronic unresponsive pain, often in the setting of systemic immune-mediated disorders.

For more than a decade, the medical community as a whole, and particularly the field of rheumatology, has been trying to move away from opioids for the management of chronic pain — with varying degrees of success.

When caring for older adults with non-cancer chronic pain, primary care providers should consider psychological factors like depression and fear avoidance, according to a presentation.

Researchers in Indiana have received $1.5 million in grant funding from the NIH HEAL Initiative to address racial disparities in chronic pain and depression, according to a press release.

About three in 10 adults with chronic pain who live in states with medical cannabis laws reported using cannabis to manage their pain, according to researchers, highlighting the need for more research on the subject.