ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION National statistics confirm what every primary care provider has always suspected-pain is the most common reason that patients seek medical care. It accounts for up to 80% of visits to physicians’ offices in the United States (1,2), and recent surveys suggest that as many as 75 to 105 million Americans experience pain daily or intermittently (3-5). In most cases, both the patient and the physician understand the underlying disease process-for instance, pharyngitis, gastroenteritis, or migraine headache-and prescribed treatments are effective in resolving the painful symptom. When pain is persistent, and the underlying condition cannot be “cured” even with specialty care, medical management of the patient becomes difficult. This is especially true for patients with fibromyalgia (FM).
