This issue of Medical Clinics of North America, Guest Edited by Charles Argoff, MD is devoted to Chronic Pain Management. Dr. Argoff has assembled a group of expert authors to review the following topics: Chronic Pain Management: An Overview of Taxonomy, Conditions Commonly Encountered, and Assessment; The Acute to Chronic Pain Transition: Can Chronic Pain Be Prevented?; What Do We Know About the Pathophysiology of Chronic Pain? Implications for Treatment Considerations; An Overview of Pharmacologic Management of Chronic Pain; An Overview of Nonmedical Treatment of Chronic Pain; Managing Chronic Headache Disorders; Managing Osteoarthritis and Other Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain Disorders; Managing Neuropathic Pain; Managing Low Back and Other Spinal Pain Disorders; Exploring the Use of Chronic Opioid Therapy for Chronic Pain: When, How and for Whom?; The Role of Invasive Pain Management Modalities in the Treatment of Chronic Pain; Multimodal Management of Chronic Pain: What is the Evidence?; Managing Chronic Pain in Special Populations; and The Future of Pain Management as a Subspecialty: Meeting the Needs of the Patients We Care For.

Pain management is an essential part of clinical practice for all healthcare providers from trainees, physician assistants and nurse practitioners through to practising physicians. Problem-Based Pain Management is a collaboration between experts in anesthesiology, geriatric medicine, neurology, psychiatry and rehabilitation which presents a multidisciplinary management strategy. Over 60 chapters follow a standard, easy-to-read, quick access format on: clinical presentation, signs and symptoms, lab tests, imaging studies, differential diagnosis, pharmacotherapy, non-pharmacologic approach, interventional procedure, follow-up and prognosis. The broad spectrum of topics include headache, neck and back pain, bursitis, phantom limb pain, sickle cell disease and palliative care. Unlike other large, cumbersome texts currently available, this book serves as a quick, concise and pertinent reference in the diagnosis and management of common pain syndromes.