Abstract
Chronic pain (CP) exacerbation is a common reason for emergency department visits, accounting for 10–16% of all visits, though it is not the ideal setting for management. CP is pain that endures past the normal time of healing though time frames vary by definition. Exacerbations of CP are typically referred to as “break through pain” or “flare ups.” The etiologies of chronic pain are myriad but in general pain can be placed into one of four mechanisms: neuropathic, musculoskeletal, inflammatory, and visceral. In the United States opioid pain prescriptions have increased dramatically since the late 1990s, unfortunately so too has opioid misuse and overdose. The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) policy recommends against the routine prescription of opioids for acute CP exacerbations.
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Sharp, C.S. (2018). Chronic Pain. In: Nordstrom, K., Wilson, M. (eds) Quick Guide to Psychiatric Emergencies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58260-3_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58260-3_12
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