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Review
. 2020 Sep;34(3):529-537.
doi: 10.1016/j.bpa.2020.07.001. Epub 2020 Jul 17.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on chronic pain management: Looking for the best way to deliver care

Filomena Puntillo  1 , Mariateresa Giglio  2 , Nicola Brienza  3 , Omar Viswanath  4 , Ivan Urits  5 , Alan D Kaye  6 , Joseph Pergolizzi  7 , Antonella Paladini  8 , Giustino Varrassi  9
Affiliations
Review

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on chronic pain management: Looking for the best way to deliver care

Filomena Puntillo et al. Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

Although pain treatment has been described as a fundamental human right, the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic forced healthcare systems worldwide to redistribute healthcare resources toward intensive care units and other COVID-19 dedicated sites. As most chronic pain services were subsequently deemed non-urgent, all outpatient and elective interventional procedures have been reduced or interrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to reduce the risk of viral spread. The shutdown of pain services jointly to the home lockdown imposed by governments has affected chronic pain management worldwide with additional impact on patients' psychological health. Therefore, the aim of this review is to analyze the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on chronic pain treatment and to address what types of strategies can be implemented or supported in order to overcome imposed limitations in delivery of chronic pain patient care.

Keywords: COVID-19; chronic pain; interventional pain; telemedicine.

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