The World Health Organization has defined pain as ‘an unpleasant sensory or emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage’. Around 7% of adults in the UK have chronic pain, three out of four cancer patients suffer pain and pain control is the cornerstone of palliative care. Pain is always subjective so take it at face value in all patients. Management of pain must include a thought for ‘what exactly is pain’ and ‘what exactly is it for this patient’.
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