Epione, ‘Epione’ And Pain – A New Approach

Abstract

Each year 25 million Americans experience acute pain due to surgery or injury and another 50 million suffer chronic pain. But how could one define pain? According to the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) pain is an “unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage”. Several treatment options exist; pharmacologic, psychological, physical rehabilitative, even surgical ones. However, there is an accumulating body of evidence suggesting that it is actually undertreated, especially in the group of patients with severe pain. Poorly controlled pain has many well-described physiological, quality of life and financial implications. That is the reason why physicians dealing with pain are in a constant quest of new tools to add to their armamentarium.