ABSTRACT
The pain treatment armamentarium includes medication, physical therapy, occupational therapy, interventional anesthesiological procedures, psychiatric treatment, neuropharmacological treatment, work hardening, and much more. To treat only one aspect of a chronic-pain patient’s problem may do more harm than good. The interdisciplinary pain clinic is a facility containing a diverse group of health care specialists that offers evaluation and treatment of both acute and chronic pain disorders. The fourth and “highest” level, the interdisciplinary pain center, is similar to the interdisciplinary pain clinics. The International Association for the Study of Pain has defined several levels of pain-treatment facilities. The costs of chronic pain, particularly in the Workers’ Compensation environment have been well documented. The interdisciplinary team is the most important treatment tool available to the chronic-pain patient. Dual diagnosis multidisciplinary pain programs that deal with chronic non-cancer pain and substance-abusing patients are also found to work well.
