ABSTRACT
Fibromyalgia syndrome [FMS] is a chronic disorder which has been defined by a history of widespread pain and the presence of marked tenderness to palpation at standard anatomically-defined tender points. As the ACR definition was primarily created to standardize research, there has been a growing demand within the medical community for a clinical definition, which would be of benefit to the treating clinician. The authors' strategy for the clinical definition is to provide a flexible framework that includes the ACR criteria and encompasses more of the potential symptomatic expression of patients within the context of FMS. Grouping symptoms by shared regions of pathogenesis will enhance clarity and focus to the clinical meeting. The FMS is properly classified as one of a large group of softtissue pain syndromes. Some authors and many clinicians have improperly referred to this category of disorders generically as “myofascial pain disorders” but that confuses the issue with regard to a distinct disorder called “myofascial pain syndrome.”.
