title: European Pain Federation position paper on appropriate opioid use in chronic pain management.
abstract: Poorly controlled pain is a global public health issue. The personal, familial and societal costs are immeasurable. Only a minority of European patients have access to a comprehensive specialist pain clinic. More commonly the responsibility for chronic pain management and initiating opioid therapy rests with the primary care physician and other non-specialist opioid prescribers. There is much confusing and conflicting information available to non-specialist prescribers regarding opioid therapy and a great deal of unjustified fear is generated. Opioid therapy should only be initiated by competent clinicians as part of a multi-faceted treatment programme in circumstances where more simple measures have failed. Throughout, all patients must be kept under close clinical surveillance. As with any other medical therapy, if the treatment fails to yield the desired results and/or the patient is additionally burdened by an unacceptable level of adverse effects, the overall management strategy must be reviewed and revised. No responsible clinician will wish to pursue a failed treatment strategy or persist with an ineffective and burdensome treatment. In a considered attempt to empower and inform non-specialist opioid prescribers, EFIC convened a European group of experts, drawn from a diverse range of basic science and relevant clinical disciplines, to prepare a position paper on appropriate opioid use in chronic pain. The expert panel reviewed the available literature and harnessed the experience of many years of clinical practice to produce these series of recommendations. Its success will be judged on the extent to which it contributes to an improved pain management experience for chronic pain patients across Europe.
  
  
  
  This position paper provides expert recommendations for primary care physicians and other non- specialist healthcare professionals in Europe, particularly those who do not have ready access to specialists in pain medicine, on the safe and appropriate use of opioid medications as part of a multi-faceted approach to pain management, in properly selected and supervised patients.
authors.affiliation: Marymount University Hospital & Hospice, Curraheen, Cork, Ireland.|Cork University Hospital, Wilton, Cork and College of Medicine and Health, University College, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.affiliation: Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Christrup
authors.affiliation: Mech-Sense, Department of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Drewes
authors.affiliation: Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre, University of Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Fallon
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Anaesthesia and Pain Therapy, Medical University of Vienna/AKH, Austria.
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Kress
authors.affiliation: Balliol College, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: McQuay
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacoepidemiology, University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mikus
authors.affiliation: Leuven Centre for Algology & Pain Management, University Hospital Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Morlion
authors.affiliation: Pain Functional Unit, University Hospital HM Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Perez-Cajaraville
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine, University Hospital Müenster, Germany.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pogatzki-Zahn
authors.affiliation: Paolo Procacci Foundation, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Varrassi
authors.affiliation: Pain Matters Ltd, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: J C D
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Wells
mesh_terms: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D059408:Pain Management; D018579:Patient Selection; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid