Long-term pain

John Lee is an honorary Senior Lecturer and Lead Clinician of the Pain Management Centre, at University College London Hospitals and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery at Queen Square. He has also worked extensively with the Commission for Healthcare Improvement (CHI) and the Healthcare Commission.Andrew Baranowski is Head of Non-Acute Pain Research at University College London Hospitals and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery at Queen Square. His specialist interests lie in complex spinal pain, neuropathic pain and uro-genital pain. He is a regional advisor for Pain Medicine, The Royal College of Anaesthetists and has organised postgraduate training courses at the Royal Society of Medicine for many years. He currently sits on the Chronic Pelvic Pain guidelines committee of the European Association of Urology.

• 1. Why do some pains become chronic? ; 2. Mechanisms of acute pain ; 3. Pharmacological targets in acute pain ; 4. Some treatments cause chronic pain: can we reduce the risk? ; 5. Assessing people with long-standing pain ; 6. Injections, invasive treatments and the 'whole patient' view ; 7. What should I feel like after treatment at the pain clinic? ; 8. Prescribing for people with pain originating in the nervous system: Part one - tricyclic anti-depressants ; 9. Prescribing for people with pain originating in the nervous system: Part two - anti convulsants ; 10. Strong opioids in the treatment of people with non-malignant pain ; 11. Pain of urological and genital origin ; 12. Cancer pain ; 13. Psychological aspects of pain ; 14. Non-medical treatment in managing people with long- term pain ; 15. Working across boundaries in pain medicine ; 16. Getting back to work

This is an extremely useful book for primary care physicians and general surgeons. Although very concise, the book successfully conveys the all-important principles of treating chronic pain patients, namely, using a comprehensive approach, and good communication among members of the medical team managing a patient.