Responsible application of opioid-containing analgesics requires consideration of possible indications and contraindications, as well as regular assessment of efficacy and adverse effects. Neither an uncritical increase in opioid application, nor the global rejection of opioid-containing analgesics is justified in patients with CNCP.

BackgroundUntil now only limited research has been done on the prevalence of chronic pain in primary care. The aim of this investigation was to study the health care utilisation of patients suffering from pain. How many patients visit an outpatient clinic because of the symptom of pain? These data were compared with data from a similar study in 1991, to investigate whether improvements had been achieved.MethodsA total of 1201 consecutive patients visiting outpatient clinics were surveyed in six practices in the western part of Germany on randomly selected days by means of questionnaires. Topics were the point prevalence of pain and the period prevalence of chronic pain, its characteristics and its impact on daily life, as well as data on previous therapies for pain. A retrospective comparison was made with the data from a similar study with same design surveying 900 patients that took place in five practices during 1991.ResultsIn 2006, pain was the main reason for consulting a doctor in 42.5% of all patients (1991: 50.3%). Of all respondents, 62% suffered from pain on the particular day of the consultation, and 40% reported that they had been suffering from pain for more than six months (1991: 36.4%). As many as 88.3% of patients with chronic pain reported a negative impact on their daily life due to this pain (1991: 68%), and 88.1% reported impairment of their working life because of chronic pain (1991: 59.1%).ConclusionPain, and chronic pain in particular, is a central problem in primary care. Over the last 15 years, the number of patients suffering from chronic pain has not decreased. In nearly half of all cases, pain is still the reason for health care utilisation in outpatient clinics. Pain represents a major primary health care problem with enormous impact on public health. Improvements can only be achieved by improving the quality of health care at the primary care level.

Patients with chronic pain are a frequent and important problem in practices of home physicians. The high frequency of patients with chronic pain in practices of specialists demonstrates the necessity of a special qualification also on this level of our medical system.

The prescription patterns we found demonstrate inadequate medical care of patients with severe pain. Continuous pain therapy with strong opioids was found in only a few cases. The main reason for this situation is the law pertaining the use of opioid drugs, with its difficult and restrictive regulations. This law cannot stop the development of increasing illegal drug consumption, but obstructs the medical care of patients with severe pain.

Opioids are given for acute intra- and postope-rative pain relief or for chronic cancer pain. In the literature there are only rare and contradictory reports on the oral administration of opioids for chronic non-malignant pain. However, there is no reason to withhold strong analgesics for patients with severe pain. When all other thrapeutic measures fail to control pain, patients with non-malignant pain can also be treated by opioids. We report 70 patients with severe pain who were given opioids as the ultima ratio in pain therapy: 50 received buprenorphine sublingual tablets, 13 received morphine sustained release tablets and the remaining 7 were treated with other opioids. The mean daily dose was 1.45 mg buprenorphine or 87.6 mg morphine. The dosage increased in 12 of the 50 patients treated with buprenorphine while 5 of the 13 morphine patients needed increasing dosage. The other patients had a constant dosage after the initial period of dose-finding. In more than 50% the pain could be effectively controlled by oral opioids. The general performance status (Karnofsky) increased from 63.6% to 74.1%. The typical side effects were constipation and nausea. Prophylaxis of constipation is most important during opioid therapy. No case of respiratory depression or opioid addiction was registered. Our results show that patients with musculo-skeletal and deafferentation pain respond better to opioids than patients with headache. Negative results were observed in some patients with neuropathic pain. The results of the study show that opioids are justifiable for the treatment of non-malignant pain and can be given without danger over a long period of time. Side effects are controlled by additional medication. The principle of opioid administration is prophylaxis of pain -therefore, they should be given "by the clock". Opioids are not only indicated in malignant illness, but also according to severity of pain and by the failure of other measures to control pain.