title: Management of pain in multiple sclerosis: a pharmacological approach.
abstract: About half of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) report pain; treatment for pain alone accounts for nearly 30% of the total use of medications for the management of all MS-related symptoms. Patients with MS can experience more than one type of pain simultaneously and at any point during the disease course, even in newly or recently diagnosed cases. Pain in MS can be associated with other symptoms, including spasticity, fatigue and mood disorder. Pain sufferers experience disruption in daily life activities, work, mood, recreation and general enjoyment of life, and report low satisfaction with pain management. Many clinical features of pain are often unrecognized by clinicians and are difficult for patients to describe. The majority of clinical evidence regarding treatment stems from small pilot and open-label studies; therefore, treatment of pain associated with MS is often based on anecdotal reports and clinicians' experience. The open-label design of the majority of studies, the unavailability of large samples and the difficulty of performing placebo-controlled studies because of ethical considerations result in insufficient evidence to support or refute the effectiveness of pain medications. This Review presents available data regarding pharmacological approaches for addressing pain in MS and highlights the shortcomings in pain management research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, PA Micone Hospital, ASL3 Genovese, Via Oliva 22, Genoa, 16153, Italy. csolaro@libero.it
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Solaro
authors.forename: Michele Messmer
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Uccelli
mesh_terms: D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000529:Complementary Therapies; D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D006261:Headache / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy*; D059352:Musculoskeletal Pain / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D059408:Pain Management; D011788:Quality of Life; D013035:Spasm / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D014277:Trigeminal Neuralgia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid