title: Pain assessment and management.
abstract: Assessment and management of pain is crucial to the success of any program of care for dying patients and their families. With appropriate assessment and management, often using home health or hospice teams, pain can be controlled in more than 90% of patients. This article focuses on the symptomatic care of patients who are dying. The legal and regulatory issues that may inhibit delivery of adequate opioid therapy are also reviewed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. jabrahm@partners.org
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Abrahm
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Snyder
mesh_terms: D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D016903:Drug Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D004335:Drug and Narcotic Control / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States; D016270:United States Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics