Etiology of pain in patients attending a Pain clinic

Abstract

Background: The cause of pain is multifactorial and can be due to trauma, infections, autoimmune conditions, etc. In this study, the etiology of the pain was found attending our newly constructed pain clinic. Aims: To describe the causes of pain in patients attending our pain clinic Material and methods: The study was performed at the Pain clinic in the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital under the supervision of the Department of Anaesthesia, Critical care. One hundred patients were selected and included in the study. The variables age, gender and cause(s) of pain were collected. The patients with chronic pain were selected, and the chronicity of pain was registered through interaction with the subjects and from their previous records. Results: The principal cause of pain in patients visiting pain clinic was associated with a motor vehicle accident in 34 patients. 27 patients didn’t remember the antecedent cause of their pain. Our data suggested that overall, 33 patients were on some opioids when visiting the pain clinic. Codeine and hydrocodone were the two most consumed opioids Conclusion: More patients were consuming non-opioids than opioids when visiting pain clinics for chronic pain. The principal cause of pain in patients visiting the pain clinic at SMHS Hospital is a motor vehicle accident.

Keywords

• pain
• anesthesia
• pain clinic
• etiology
• chronic pain
• opiods