[Deficits in the treatment of chronic pain (I)]

Pain management by general practitioners often is inadequate. Guidelines for pain management are either not observed or not known at all. Opioids are not prescribed adequately. Differential diagnoses influencing the therapeutic regimen such as drug-induced headache are not sufficiently known. Monotherapies with analgesic drugs are enforced for patients with chronic lower back pain in spite of low efficacy. Improving pain management can be difficult for the general practitioner having no special knowledges or support from pain specialists. However, the general practitioner should remain the patient-coordinator for the patient with chronic pain. Networks with general practitioners and specialised units in the hospital may offer possibilities for improvement of pain management deficits.