Toward more focused multimodal and multidisciplinary approaches for pain management in Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

Arturo Cuomo,1 Anna Crispo,2 Andrea Truini,3 Silvia Natoli,4 Orazio Zanetti,5 Paolo Barone,6 Marco Cascella11Division of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Istituto Nazionale Tumori, IRCCS Fondazione G. Pascale, Naples, Italy; 2S.C. Epidemiologia e Biostatistica, Istituto Nazionale Tumori, IRCCS Fondazione G. Pascale, Naples, Italy; 3Department of Human Neuroscience, University Sapienza, Rome, Italy; 4Department of Clinical Science and Translational Medicine, Tor Vergata University of Rome, Rome, Italy; 5U.O. Alzheimer, IRCCS Centro San Giovanni di Dio-Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy; 6Center for Neurodegenerative Disease-CEMAND, University of Salerno, Fisciano, ItalyAbstract: In Parkinson’s disease (PD), pain represents a significant issue in terms of prevalence, clinical features, and treatment. Painful manifestations not strictly related to the disease are often amplified by the motor dysfunction. On the other hand, typical pain problems may specifically concern this vulnerable population. In turn, pain may have a deep impact on patients’ health-related quality of life. However, pain treatment in PD remains an unmet need as only about half of patients with pain use analgesics and pain is often managed by simply increasing doses of PD medications. In this complex scenario, pain treatments should follow multimodal approaches through a careful combination of pharmacological agents with non-pharmacological strategies, depending on the type of pain and the clinical context. A multidisciplinary approach involving medical specialists from different disciplines could be a winning strategy to address the issue. This work is aimed to provide practical suggestions useful for different types of clinicians and care professionals for pain management in this vulnerable population.Keywords: Parkinson disease, pain management, pain assessment, opioids, acetaminophen, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents

Keywords

• Parkinson Disease
• Pain Management
• Pain Assessment
• Opioids
• Acetaminophen
• Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Agents